


Afterglow

by Artfulstar



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adam is here, Adora discovers about her past before the horde, Canon Compliant, Catradora cuddling, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Cuddles, Eternia, F/F, F/M, Family Reunion, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff without Plot, Glimbow is cute, Light Angst, Multi, No Beta, Plot, Post-Canon, Post-War, Roadtrip, Season 5 Spoilers, and i love them, because im a funky little sapphic, best friend squad - Freeform, but if you want..., conflicts ensue, obviously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24304480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artfulstar/pseuds/Artfulstar
Summary: "I’ve found it!” Entrapta cackled as she hugged the small device tightly.“Wh-What did you find?!”“I’ve foundEternia,Adora! Your birthplace!”Two years after the defeat of Horde Prime, Entrapta makes a discovery that may change Adora's more than an intergalactic war already did
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Melog (She-Ra), Entrapta & Hordak (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 151
Kudos: 671





	1. It's so excruciating to see you low

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I dreamed about last night and I needed to write something. It was supposed to be something small but now it's multi-chapter

** Prologue - It's so excruciating to see you low **

It was the end of the afternoon when Adora arrived at Dryl for the first time after almost a year but nothing had really changed besides the place becoming a little more livid with robots and people.

Adora looked at the tallest tower of the Crypto Castle: Entrapta’s lab. Bow had received a video from Entrapta at lunchtime. She said she was just done with one thing that would pique Adora’s interest and invited the blonde woman to come to Dryl to see what she had discovered in person.

She was warmly greeted by the citizens as she passed the gates. Some offered a smile, others waved at her. It wasn’t the biggest walk until she was entering Entrapta’s fortress, still minding for the traps that once were very present at the place.

The place used to be impossible to navigate if you weren’t a robot or Entrapta, but with a few often visits and a little muscle memory, Adora was able to navigate through the corridors and find her way to Entrapta’s lab, whose door was open.

“Entrapta? Did you want to talk to me?” Adora says as she enters the lab of the princess. The place was fairly tidy and I Adora could guess that was mostly Wrong Hordak’s doing for the past two years. Of course, it still had that “ _Entrapta_ ” feeling to it.

Upon walking into the lab, she didn’t see Entrapta immediately, but she did hear some rustling coming from the only pile of metal scraps and wires in the room. Adora chuckled and got near the pile.

“Are you in there, Entrapta?” Sure, it wasn’t the biggest pile of tech she’s seen, but Entrapta was small, so she could easily hide in it.

On cue, two purple pigtails popped from the side of the pile and after a second they helped their owner get out of it. She had a blotch of oil smeared on her forehead and some wires were mixed in her long hair.

“ADORA! Just who I wanted to see!” She exclaimed with a smile before her hair grabbed Adora by her waist and dragged her along the room. The blonde could tell Entrapta was excited by the way her hair was gripping into Adora’s waist as it depended on it.

Entrapta stopped in front of the screens of her computers while her other pigtail, the one that wasn’t holding Adora, grabbed a chair. Helping each other out, the two separate strands of hair helped Adora sit on the chair before giving a light pat on her hair poof and going back to help Entrapta with her screens.

Adora stayed in silence as she watched Entrapta tap a hundred things per minute. By this point, five years and a half after joining the rebellion, she was used to the Princess’ antics and her skill to forget about the world around her if there was any tech at a five-foot radius.

“YES!” The princess exclaimed loudly and cackled loudly as she took the wires off one of the small devices “Adora! Listen!”

“Yeah, listening.” The blonde answered with a small smile on her face.

“You know me and Hordak have been doing some studies on every single one of the First One’s structures since the war ended, right?”

“Right.”

“Some time ago I collected some data in that First One’s ghost village. It didn’t seem like anything at the time so I just stored it away for the time being. But then two days ago I found that again and decided to look deeper into that, crossing it with all the data I’ve had from the First One’s and their colonies and data from Horde Prime’s ship.”

“That’s great Entrapta but how does that-” She was quickly shushed by one of Entrapta’s pigtails.

“After forty-five hours, thirty-one minutes, and four seconds I was able to make an incredible discovery!” Her eyes were glowing just like the sun and Adora let her continue.

“The data I collected was in reality coordinates in an ancient coding system that dated from when the First Ones were still on Etheria. I converted those into our coordinates and found the same coordinates in Horde Prime’s deepest data! It took me a while to track where they lead since they’re far, far away from here but in the end I did it! I’ve found it!” Entrapta cackled as she hugged the small device tightly.

“Wh-What did you find?!”

“I’ve found _Eternia,_ Adora! Your birthplace!” The purple pigtails hugged Adora’s cheeks “Not only yours, but the birthplace of every single First One!”

The world seemed to stop for Adora. After saving an entire planet and ending an intergalactic war, Adora thought that the universe wouldn’t throw more revelations about her past in her face. It seems like she was wrong.

* * *

The sun filtered through the windows of the room in Brightmoon. It was another day for everyone, but for Adora, it seemed like it was still the same. She didn’t catch a single drop of sleep the whole night, but she was practically the definition of tired at the moment.

Usually, Catra’s purring would knock her out in a few minutes, especially if the brunette was laying on top of Adora like she was now. Adora felt her hand getting cramps of playing with Catra’s, now shoulder-length, hair all night long, but she couldn’t bear not do it, even if several times during the night, her mind would wander back to Entrapta’s lab and she would stop raking the brown locks for a few seconds.

 _I’ve found_ Eternia _, Adora! Your birthplace!_

The words kept replaying in Adora’s head over and over again. What was she supposed to do with this piece of information? Let Entrapta take the lead in this so she could finally meet the objects of her studies? Ignore it and move on with her life as if nothing happened? Or maybe go to Eternia and find more about her people?

She couldn’t stand it anymore and groaned deeply, the heels of her palms dug deep into her eyes. _Gosh, she was an idiot._

“I think it’s too early for spilling truths like that, Adora.”

The blonde’s eyes widened and she took a look at Catra. Her eyes were still closed, but she had a small smile on her face.

“Did you just read my mind, Catra?”

“No, you’re an idiot enough to say what _you’re supposed to be thinking_ out loud” She opened her eyes to look at Adora and plopped herself on her elbows and gave Adora a small kiss on the nose “Good morning, idiot” she joked.

“Good morning, stupid” Adora joked back and stole a peck from the girl and they both melted into each other. It was incredible that after two years since that faithful day at the Heart, Catra was still able to make Adora a puddle with just kissing and if she was being honest, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

A mewl drove their attention away from each other and they faced Melog, who was laying his head on the mattress, and his eyes pleading for some attention too.

“Good morning to you too, Melog” Adora chuckled and petted it.

“Attention hog” Catra mumbled and Adora only laughed more, hugging Catra tightly and the brunette buried her face into the crook of Adora’s neck.

The silence made Adora’s thoughts drift far away from Brightmoon and go back to Dryl the day before and she felt her face sour completely.

“Hey, you seem lost” Catra murmured against Adora’s neck. Just then, she realized Catra was lazily kissing her neck, hopefully waiting for some kind of reaction from the blonde “Is it… about what Entrapta told you yesterday?”

“You know me too much,” Adora said and scratched under Catra’s ear, a small purr rumbling from her chest “It’s just…” Adora breathed in deeply “What should I do?”

Catra chuckled and turned her face away from her exposed neck to look at her girlfriend.

“We’ve been together for two years, Adora. You know my answer for that kind of question” The other woman rolled her eyes playfully.

“‘ _Adora, the real question should be what do_ you want _, not what_ you should do _, you gorgeous woman that I love so much_ ’” Adora made her best impression and Catra hit her on the shoulder lightly.

“I’ve never said that _last_ part.”

“I guess you’re right, you actually call me a ‘ _stupid gorgeous woman’_.”

“That’s more like it, although still far off from reality” Catra hugged Adora and they finally sat on the bed, their legs still entangled under the blanket “No drifting from the subject though, what do you want, Adora?”

Every time Catra asked that question, Adora felt herself being pulled to that moment years ago and how she almost gave in to telling Catra that all that she wanted was _her_. It would’ve made things a lot easier for them, but alas Adora was still on the path of learning to give her own desire a chance and think about her once in a while.

“What I want?” She echoed Catra’s words and laid back to gather her thoughts.

Adora had no idea of where to start looking for her past before the Horde. Before Light Hope revealed she was a First One born in Eternia and not a simple Etherian who just happened to pick up a sword hidden in the woods, she had no doubts of her history, because Shadow Weaver always told her: She was just a little over one year old when she was found by Hordak. Her parents had died during the war and she was an only child. That was it. No mysteries at all.

But now it was different. She was a First One. The only one in Etheria for that matter. She was forcefully pulled from her family back in Eternia because of Light Hope, but she did so many good things in this dimension alone that she was almost ashamed to say that she didn’t regret not staying in Eternia.

But now the universe was saved. There were some occasional trips across planets to restore magic and relax after years of fighting and she and Catra were together, that was more than she could ever dream.

Maybe it was time. Time to visit the First Ones. Time to uncover _who_ was Adora before Light Hope changed the course of her life. Were her parents alive or dead? Who were they? Did she have any relatives? All of those answers were laying on a planet much farther away than the Best Friend Squad had ever gone before.

Maybe she was being selfish, dragging their friends from their duties not to save a magicless planet, but to uncover her past, but as Catra would say to her many times: _you saved the galaxy, Adora! You’re allowed to be selfish._

“I think…” she shook her head before rephrasing that “I _want_ to go to Eternia, Catra. And discover more about me and my past.”

“Then we’re doing it.”

“‘ _We’_?”

“Duh, you think you’re going alone? I’m going too. And I’m sure Arrow Boy and Sparkles will go too.”

Adora felt her eyes watering and she tackled her girlfriend, which Catra responded with a squeal, her tail frizzing up and moving around as she tried to get Adora off her. The blond didn’t seem fazed and continued her attack of kisses against Catra’s face, ending it with a full-blown kiss to her lips.

Catra’s claws retracted from Adora’s shoulders and she felt the woman relax and continue their kissing.

“I love you, you know that?” Adora said, their lips only 2 inches apart.

“I know and I love you, too” the other responded before going back for the kiss.

They don’t know how much time they laid there. Their kisses gradually changed from frantic to slow and after a while, Adora finally fell asleep, hugging Catra from behind, the rumble of the purr echoing through her mind.

There were a lot of things to do before they could properly leave for the trip, but for now, Adora wanted to bask into the familiar but comforting warmth of her girlfriend _and_ love of her life.


	2. I need to say, hey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I posted this again because there was something glaring missing, please forgive the inconvenience ^-^

** Chapter One - I need to say, hey **

“I only need to make some improvements to Darla and she’ll be a-okay to go!”

Catra and Adora didn’t have a chance to see the Tech Princess for long before she closed the Ship’s doors and loud bangs were heard from inside.

“So…” Catra started “What do we do now?”

“We can wait here. I don’t think Entrapta will be procrastinating with that.” Adora sat on the floor, her legs crossed in front of her. Imitating her girlfriend, Catra sat beside her and leaned into the blonde’s shoulder.

“Is she coming with us to Eternia?”

“Not really. She said she has to keep company to Hordak and Wrong Hordak and she will be doing more research on the clones.”

“She has more things to put them through?!” Catra asked in disbelief, her eyes widening.

“Apparently” The princess chuckled and caught Catra’s hand that was laying in her lap and locked their fingers.

It really didn’t take long for Entrapta to exit the ship, her hair a mess and her welding mask over her face, though she wasted no time pulling it away as she got out.

“Oh, I almost forgot! _HORDAK!_ ” She screamed and a few moments later, the ex-leader of the horde appeared at the door.

“What is it, Entrapta?” Immediately she ran towards him and pulled him down so she could whisper something in his ear.

With a sigh, he left the room once again and came back two minutes after with a dark cyan cloth that was folded.

“Come here, Adora! And you too, Catra.” Entrapta urged the pair to come closer and they did. When Adora was in front of her former leader, he gave her the piece of the cloth.

“Thank you? Is this… a goodbye gift?” The blonde asked, her brow raised and her head tilted as she looked at the fabric folded neatly in her hands.

“It’s obviously a cloth for you to clean the ship when we’re gone” Catra proposed, not a single drop of irony on her voice.

“It’s not that, you dummies! Tell them, Hordak!” Entrapta elbowed him and he released a deep sigh.

“This is… the cloth you were wrapped in when I found you” He avoided Adora’s gaze.

“You kept this?!” Adora exclaimed and he nodded “Why though?”

“Unfold it, Adora!” Entrapta said and Adora did as she said and her eyes widened at what she found there.

It was a first one sigil embroidered in a golden thread.

“‘Elarion’?” Adora automatically read it “What…?” she looked expectantly at the Tech princess and she had a big smile on her face.

“Yes! From the data I’ve gathered, Elarion is one of the biggest cities on Eternia!”

“Which means that Elarion is the city I was born?”

“ _Probably_! Or at least, the one you were taken from when you were a baby!” Entrapta explained.

“Well, if we needed a lead on where to start looking for answers, we have it right here.” Catra said, her claws tracing the sigil.

“Hordak, why did you kept this?”

“Shadow Weaver made me kept it when she took you in.” He said “I didn’t know why at the start but she said that it would be useful for the Horde someday.”

“She knew I was a First One, but she couldn’t read what the sigil said. Maybe she thought it was a clue for a powerful spell or something?” Adora tried putting the pieces together.

“Knowing her, it was probably not far from that.” Catra said, her voice dripping with sour, but her heterochromatic eyes full of sorrow. Shadow Weaver was still a touchy subject between everyone. One of Adora’s hands left the cloth and snaked around Catra’s waist, pulling her closer.

“Anyway, thank you, Hordak” She looked at the man “This was important.” He offered a small smile at the princess before exiting the place.

“I’m going back to Darla, but feel free to leave if you want. You guys must have a lot of goodbyes to give. I’ll send a message to Bow when I’m done with her.”

After saying that, she wasted no time in grabbing a toolbox that was laying on the floor and hurrying inside the ship once more, the loud bangs restarting once again.

“So, who do you want to start our goodbyes with?” Catra asked.

“What about we go see Scorpia and Perfuma?” Adora suggested and Catra’s tail wrapped around Adora’s arm.

“Sound perfect.”

* * *

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon, Adora.” Perfuma said as she put the tea in the cups in front of her. They were all sat in the royal residence of the princess that was surrounded by the kingdom’s gardens which could be seen if they looked out the open window.

The gardens of Plumeria were always beautiful but after She-Ra healed the land, they seemed to shine even during the most enduring winter and through the most powerful storm.

“I thought you were leaving for a space road trip?”

“That is the plan indeed.” She brought her pink cup to her lips and sipped on the soothing tea “We were just in Dryl. Entrapta is doing some last changes to the ship so it can last such a long trip.”

“Is it true that you’re going to your home planet, Adora?” Perfuma asked.

“Yes, but I think I’m ready for it. I’ll have Catra, Bow, and Glimmer with me all the way through.”

“That sounds lovely. Remember that everyone here will be cheering for you to find what you look for on Eternia, especially me and Scorpia” Perfuma smiled and took a sip of her own tea.

“Speaking of her, where is she?” Catra asked, absentmindedly playing with a loose thread of the couch.

“She was collecting some flowers for something. I didn’t pry to know what it was.” Catra eyes drifted back to the loose thread, but before she could pull it out and probably do a bigger mess in Perfuma’s couch, the sliding door was opened suddenly and Scorpia was at the door, a basket full of flowers in one of her pincers.

“Oh! You’re here!” She said, her face blushing at Adora’s and Catra’s presence.

“Hey, Scorpy” Perfuma said affectionately and lowered down her own cup of tea “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Y-Yes, but… I…” She put the basket flower on the nearest surface and grabbed Perfuma’s arm delicately, bringing her outside so they could talk privately.

Some mumbling could be heard from the outside and Catra and Adora just looked at each other with questioning looks.

A few minutes after, Perfuma opened the sliding door, leading Scorpia by the pincers.

“Sorry for that,” Scorpia said, “This was supposed to be a surprise” she looked at the floor bashfully.

“Scorpia wasn’t expecting you two. She wanted to collect flowers so she could make some flower crowns as gifts for your trip.” Scorpia was blushing in embarrassment.

“Awn, Scorpia!” Adora cooed, her eyes sparkling.

“I know they’re not gonna be the greatest flower crowns you’ve ever seen but I’ll try!” She stuffed her chest with pride and grabbed the basket and sat on one of the meditation pillows, her pincers working delicately as they could do weave the stalks of flowers together. Perfuma laughed affectionately and sat beside her to help her if any flower got stuck.

Adora watched the two other princesses weave the flowers in harmony as if they had done it a hundred times before and she felt her heart swell. Catra also had a smile as she looked at Scorpia’s innocent smile.

If there was one good thing that came out of the months that Adora spent away from the Horde was the bond that Catra and Scorpia created, even though it hit more than a few blocks on the road, they were both back to being closer friends than they ever were at the Horde. She was also glad that her friend had found her own awaited happiness alongside Perfuma just as she had found _her_ happiness with Adora.

Feeling a surge of happiness, she forgot the thread of the couch and rested her head in Adora’s lap with a calm smile. The blonde chuckled and raked her fingers through Catra’s hair, making the brunette purr at the touch, time passing by faster than ever before.

* * *

“You’re sure everything is going to be fine, Glimmer?” Micah asks his daughter as he helps her pack her travel bag for the trip just he insisted on doing every single time Glimmer was leaving to restore the universe.

“Yes, dad, I’m going to be fine!” She reassures him.

“I mean, from what I’ve heard, Eternia is way farther than you and your friends ever been. It makes me worried for you.” Glimmer looked at her father. His face was filled with sorrow as he folded one of her dresses and put inside the bag. Slowly, she walked up to the man and hugged him. He returned the hug and let his chin rest on top of her head, rubbing soothing circles to her back.

“I’m going to be fine, dad. Believe me. Bow, Adora, and Catra would never let anything happen to me, and neither will I let anything happen to them. That’s what makes us a good team” She pulled away from the embrace with a smile “And believe me, I don’t think Eternia will be the most dangerous place we’ve ever been. Hard to beat a planet with giant lizards with three heads.” She chuckled darkly as she remembered the sticky situation they got when restoring the magic of Lundoth.

“I guess you’re right.” He laughed back.

“Hey Glimmer, they’re waiting for us- Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.” Bow was at the bedroom door, his own bag and quiver over his shoulder. As he noticed the two monarchs, he took a few steps back, almost meaning to leave, but Glimmer teleported to stand beside him and grabbed him by the arm.

“No worries Bow, me and dad are almost done packing my bag.”

“Correction,” the former monarch folded a last piece of cloth and put it inside the bag and closed it “we _are_ done packing it.”

Glimmer smiled at her dad and ran to hug him. After releasing him, she grabbed her bag, putting one of the two straps on her shoulder. Like they’ve done a hundred times before, Bow took one of Glimmer’s hands and locked their fingers, giving a reassuring squeeze.

“Let’s go then. There’s a lot of people waiting for us.”

The queen only nodded with a bright smile on her face.

* * *

Bow wasn’t kidding when he said there were a lot of people there. On the open field where the ship usually took flight, Entrapta, Perfuma, Scorpia, Mermista, Frosta, Spinerella, Netossa, Sea Hawk, Lance, George, Swift Wind, and at least a dozen Brightmoon guards were all chatting between each other.

On the path leading to the ship, Catra and Adora had their bags and were holding hands looking into the sunset and Melog was looking into the sky too, but quickly got distracted by a firefly that passed in front of his eyes.

All their heads snapped at the footsteps. Glimmer and Bow were still holding hands and Micah was trailing behind them with a serene smile.

“You two ready to go?” Adora asked with a big smile on her face.

“Yup! All packed and ready for another Best Friend Squad road trip!” Glimmer said excitedly.

“Then let’s do it” Catra rolled her eyes playfully at the queen and dragged Adora to the stone path that led to the ship.

“Hey look!” Frosta shouted as she noticed the friends walking down the path. Everyone looked at the direction she was pointing and smiled when she saw the group. The princesses left their conversations to gather around them and started talking all over each other and exchanging hugs with the team.

“Sorry you can’t go with us, Swifty” Adora said as she hugged her steed.

“It’s fine, Adora. I know you need me here in Etheria in case of an emergency. And besides, I’m always with you.”

“Don’t hesitate to use the bond, okay?” She nuzzled against his face, tears threatening to leak.

The blonde finally separated her face from him and looked around. Catra was engaged in a conversation with Mermista and Sea Hawk before Netosse stepped in to probably tease her about something, while Spinerella laughed at her wife's antics. Bow was receiving a never-ending hug from his dads, tears spilling from their eyes. Glimmer was hugging Frosta and receiving one of the flower crowns that Scorpia had done earlier in the morning.

“Adora?” The blond snapped her head around and saw Entrapta behind her.

“Hey, what is it Entrapta?”

“Just wanted to say me and Wrong Hordak filled the storage with food to last the first part of the trip. You will need to restock once you get to Eternia.”

“That’s alright, Entrapta. Thank you for your work. I wouldn’t be able to do this trip in the first place if it wasn’t for you.” The blonde put a hand on Entrapta’s shoulder and smiled down at her “And I promise to tell you everything I discover about the First Ones’ culture and tech.”

The purple-haired princess’ eyes glistened and she hugged Adora roughly, almost knocking them over.

“Thank you! Thank you!” She said repeatedly against Adora’s stomach, which the latter only laughed and answered with a breathless _you’re welcome._

As the four friends (and an alien cat) entered the ship, they waved their goodbyes at those who were outside, misty-eyed like always. The door metal door closed as they walked into the aircraft.

Adora sat on the chair in the middle of the control room and sat the coordinates to Eternia.

 _“Hello administrator, please confirm your destination. Is Eternia correct?”_ Darla spoke.

“Yes.” Adora simply said and adjusted her posture on the chair.

_“Coordinates set for Eternia. Preparing to take off in three,”_

Bow could see the metal road that led to the entrance being pulled back into the ship.

_“Two,”_

Glimmer could see the grass from the field moving, showcasing the great gust of wind the ship was doing to take off.

“ _One.”_

Suddenly, Catra and Melog weren’t able to see the ground anymore and the only thing they saw the vast universe out there, Etheria just behind them.

“Everything seems to be normal. I think you can put it on automatic, Adora!” Bow said as he checked the stats of the ship. The princess didn’t waste anytime and quickly set the whole trip to Automatic Pilot and took a deep breath, slumping down on the chair and closing her eyes for a moment of peace.

The peace was disturbed as Catra took her seat between Adora’s leg just like she always did since the first time they were in space together.

“Really?” Adora asked, a smirk on her face.

“Really.” Catra melted into Adora’s shoulder as the latter wrapped her arms around the other’s waist. Their eyes drifted off from each other’s faces and they stared into the infinity space out there, the stars passing by them. “Ready to see your home?”

“Catra, you’re silly,” Adora rolled her eyes playfully “My home is wherever _you_ are.”

“Corny” the brunette scoffed.

“You like corny, though.”

“Yeah, _I do_.” They met halfway for a fleeting kiss.

The next few days were going to be a ride, but they were together and that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we’re not going to be seeing the other characters besides The Best Friend Squad again so soon, I wanted to include a scene where they give their goodbyes and this is how chapter became bigger than initially planned. I love every single one of them, okay?


	3. Ultraviolet morning light below

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, Ao3 stabbed me on the back when I posted the last chapter and it didn’t reach as many people as it should, so if you didn’t read the second chapter, go back to read it before this one! Sorry for the inconvenience <3
> 
> The first part of this chapter is based on Noelle’s Art she posted her Twitter on Saturday. It was too cute for me not to write anything based on that. Also a little angst in the first part mixed with comfort. There’s also some Glimbow cooking because I’m weak for domestic fluff.

** Chapter Two - Ultraviolet morning light below **

It had been a few days since they left Etheria. Things were starting to get monotone for the four friends as it always did, of course. Being trapped in the middle of space was not exactly the funniest activity in the world. Sure, they found different ways to pass the time, but some days, they just wanted to relax around in the room. That was Catra and Adora’s case today.

The blonde stared at the ceiling, her hair loose from her ponytail and splayed across the pillow. Catra was snuggled by her side, her claws brushing against the part of the back that Adora’s grey tank top didn’t cover and staring at the ceiling too, though her mind seemed to be at peace.

“What are Sparkles and Arrow boy doing now?” 

“Today is their turn to make food. They seem to have more skill at that than us.” Adora chuckled and put her chin on top of Catra’s head.

“Not our fault that the Horde offered only two types of ration bars. We didn’t need to cook them.”

“True, though it would be useful to learn something if we ever think of going to space just the two of us.” The blonde chuckled and felt her cheeks getting warm.

“And where would we go, just the two of us?” Adora couldn’t really see Catra’s face, but she could tell she had a smirk on her lips.

“We don’t really need to go anywhere, just stay in space for a few days not giving a shit about what’s happening down on Etheria.”

“That sounds too perfect, honestly. Although, with our luck, we would get roped into some galactic fight in the first few minutes or so.” Adora let out an exasperated sigh.

“Yep, sounds like something that would happen.” She smiled and felt Catra snuggle further into her chest “I’ll be really impressed we don’t run into some trouble in Eterni-!” Catra’s hands came up to Adora’s mouth and covered it before she could finish her sentence.

“Don’t. Say it. You’re gonna jinx it.” Catra demanded and Adora nodded in approval, which made the former’s hands leave her lips and go back to wandering her back.

Catra’s claws weren’t retracted but she made sure to be careful as she lightly scraped Adora’s skin. When they did touch the middle of her back, the place where she had three claw scars across it, Catra felt Adora flinch slightly.

“Sorry…” She pulled her head from the blonde’s chest to look at her as she apologized to her.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a sensitive area, that’s all.” Adora’s hands ran through Catra’s hair, lightly caressing her scalp.

“I’m not apologizing just for that… I know I did this scar right there, just I did many others in you.”

“Catra…” The brunette could feel a lecture coming, so she interrupted.

“I know… I know that those scars, just like our relationship, they healed. But it doesn’t mean they didn’t hurt once upon a time.” She could feel the tears leaking “The other ones are entirely my fault, I did those on purpose and now they’re healed, but this one,” her fingers, now with the claws retracted, touched the surrounding area of the mark “I did while I didn’t have control over my body and it’s the biggest one you have. I hate it. The one I that hurt you the most I didn’t have a choice on choosing not to do, but it makes no difference. It was my hands that created it.” The tears were now pouring against Adora’s tank top.

They were silent for a minute, Adora holding Catra tightly as the latter cried remembering that awful battle on Horde Prime’s ship 2 years prior. Sure, they both left without physical harm, but the memories still plagued both of them, especially Catra who once in a while had nightmares of the acid bath she was forced into.

The tears finally ceased, but Adora kept holding her girlfriend tightly. She eyed Melog in the corner. As Catra and Melog’s connection got deeper, the alien-cat was able to portray the other’s emotions much clearly, which, of course, included this moment.

His eyes were droopy and his mane wasn’t displaying the light ethereal blue he naturally had, but a darker blue that Adora learned that it meant Catra was feeling deep sadness within her.

“Catra,” Adora began, lightly raking her fingers through Catra’s hair “it’s been two years this since that happened and over these two years, you’ve shown me more affection and love. You’re changed, Catra. We both are.”

“Sure, no amount of love will make those scars disappear, but every time you show remorse about them, it’s like those moments where the _old you_ hurt me vanish because I know the _new you_ regrets it.”

Adora pulled Catra into a sitting position and cradled both of Catra’s furry and wet cheeks into her palms.

“And if anything, the one who I should be mad is prime. He _used_ you, Catra. You were always being used by someone in your life since you got to the Horde. Shadow Weaver, Hordak, Prime. It doesn’t excuse your actions, but you were a victim of the cycle of abuse, Catra. And _you_ chose to break it when you rescued Glimmer and tried to make up for what you did.”

Adora felt the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“And I… I’m so glad I came back for you, Catra. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I discovered you were like that when it was already too late.” The blonde’s chest was tightening as she prepared for another full-blown sob. Noticing this, Catra pulled her into a hug, also sporting a few tears rolling down her cheeks once more.

They, once again, stayed in silence, basking into each other’s warmth and safety before they pulled away and pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed.

“I love you, you know that, right?” The blonde princess murmured, her breath ghosting against her girlfriend’s lips.

“I love you too. I’m sorry that I ever hurt you.” After going through life swearing that she would _never say sorry to anyone_ , Catra realized how freeing it was to do that. Especially now that she realized the weight of her own actions.

They leaned in for a kiss, falling back into the mattress not pulling away for a second.

Of course, it didn’t take long before something perturbed their peace.

Melog jumped on them, wanting his attention. His mane was far from the sad blue, now sporting the vivid green that meant Catra was happy. Of course, it would only take a look at her smile and to hear her laugh at Melog licking her face to know that. No alien-cat needed.

* * *

“Do you remember the time when we left Adora and Catra in the kitchen to watch over the dumplings and they almost burned because they got too distracted kissing?” Glimmer asked Bow as she popped a blueberry into her mouth. The pair had just put the tray of muffins into the oven (don’t ask how Entrapta was able to make it work in the middle of the crushing void of space).

“How could I not?” He chuckled and leaned on the counter beside the Queen, “if we didn’t come back to check on time, we would have to eat oatmeals that expired a thousand years ago.” He chuckled.

“Honestly, those two can’t keep their hands off each other!” Glimmer said with a pout, though her voice didn’t have a single hint of annoyance.

“We can’t blame then, honestly. They’ve been pining after each other for almost 10 years. It’s kinda understandable that after so many ups and downs, they wouldn’t take any time with each other for granted.” The man explained, his hands reaching for the blueberry bowl and taking a few of them inside his mouth too.

“But it’s kinda irritating that they stop in the middle of a mission just to flirt with each other. I remember one time catching Adora sending Catra a blowing kiss and she almost got her skull cracked by a bat because of that.” Up to this day, she was still impressed by how Adora avoided that all unscathed but a bruise that healed once She-Ra was gone for the day.

“Like _we_ are much better than them” He pointed and booped Glimmer’s nose playfully.

“I… I don’t know what are you talking about.” She said though the red in her cheeks didn’t leave any room for doubt that she _did_ know what he was talking about.

“You do remember that we both confessed to each other in the middle of a dire situation, right?” His smirk was growing just as Glimmer’s pout was.

“Sh-Shut up.” She smacked him on the shoulder, which only made him laugh more. He pulled his girlfriend closer, minding the bowl in her hands, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, much like that day years ago. He smiled down at her, who responded with one of her own. They met for a kiss on the lips. Short, but nevertheless sweet.

Time seemed to move fast and before they knew, the scent of baked goods filled the air of the kitchen and it didn’t take much longer before the muffins were ready. Using the First-One’s apron on the kitchen and a pair of oven gloves, the archer took the tray out and put it on top of the counter.

As he took the snacks out of the molds, Glimmer teleported very quickly to his side, before planting a kiss to his cheek. The young queen saw how his face got instantly red and how he almost dropped one of the muffins on the floor.

“W-What was that for?!” He said, the red in his face only darkening.

“Adora once told me what’s written on that apron of yours,” She had to suppress a giggle before continuing, “It says ‘Smooch the chef’, so I did!” She had a smug look on her face and a glint in her eyes that clearly said _that’s what you get for teasing me._

Before the man could muster any kind of comment back to her, the lights of the ship started flickering, before they shut down completely. It was dead silence for a few moments, only the sounds of the ship working.

That is until a deafening alarm started and the lights started flickering again. Bow and Glimmer groaned loudly and on instinct they put their hands on their ears to try to cover the sound.

When it became clear the sound wouldn’t stop, Glimmer took a stance and ran out of the kitchen, Bow stopping for a second to throw his apron and gloves on top of the counter before following her.

* * *

Bow and Glimmer met Adora and Catra in the hallway that led to the control room of the ship. Although there weren’t any red lights, which meant the ship wasn’t on the critical condition, it still made all of them extremely stressed, especially with the lights flickering every two seconds or so. Without thinking twice, they opened the metal door.

Adora looked around the room before jumping into the chair, putting her hand on the panel.

“ _Greetings, administrator,”_ Darla said with her normal robotic introduction that she used every time Adora sat on that chair, meaning that she wasn’t detecting any kind of problem with the ship.

“Darla, what is-”

“Adora, first ask her to stop this crazy sound!” Glimmer ordered from where she was standing at the door frame.

“Darla, can you please stop the alarm!” It sounded more demanding than she’d hoped, but in all honesty, it was starting to hurt her ears.

The ship continued the sound for a few more seconds before it ceased completely. The squad all sighed in relief.

“ _My apologies, administrator. It seems that we’re approached an area that interfered with my system._ ” Darla explained.

“That’s okay, Darla. The good thing is that we’re not in danger.” Adora said and relaxed into the chair, blowing a loose strand of her hair from her face and closing her eyes.

“Uh, Adora…” Bow said as he looked outside the big window of the ship

“What is it, Bow?” She still had her eyes closed.

Before the archer could explain, Darla’s voice popped up again

“ _You’ve reached your destiny. Welcome to Eternia.”_ Adora’s eyes snapped open and she hurried to the window, almost tripping and falling on the floor.

Sure enough a planet, smaller than the size of Etheria, was just outside the window. Adora felt a surge of magic as she looked at it.

“We… We did it!” Glimmer celebrated and ran to hug Bow, who twirled her in the air happily.

Adora gulped and she noted the colorful forests on the planet’s surface and the oceans, and rivers full of life. If she focused enough, she could see cities. Cities filled with people that probably had no idea that She-Ra wasn’t just a legend.

“Adora! Are you listening?” Bow’s voice suddenly filled her ears. She turned to look at him. Glimmer was clinging to his arm.

“Entrapta was able to track the exact location of Elarion. We just need to set it and it will tell us exactly where to land.”

“Oh, right. I’ll do that.” Her mind was still wandering around, but she sat on the chair and pulled one of the panels. After a brief look, she found Elarion and the localization appeared on the screen.

“Adora, maybe we should use the cloaking ability Entrapta installed.” Glimmer suggested, “I don’t think the people down there would understand if a thousand-year-old ship was seeing flying through the sky.”

Adora nodded silently and activated the cloaking before allowing Darla to fly into the atmosphere.

“Hey,” Catra’s hand was on Adora’s shoulder “you okay?”

“Yeah, just… There’s no turning back now, you know?”

“Yeah, but don’t freak out so much, stupid.” She smirked “We won’t announce you’re She-Ra the moment we take a step in there. We’ll try to stay low.”

“Right.” Adora’s pale hand came to cover Catra’s “Thank you.” She offered a true smile to the brunette, which responded with one of her own.

As they finally entered the atmosphere and Adora found a secluded spot in the woods around Elarion, Adora realized it.

She was closer to the truth of her past than ever before.


	4. It's not what I meant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I had to learn how to write and read First Ones for this chapter and story. No, I don’t regret it.

** Chapter Three - It's not what I meant **

“Catra, throw your hood up!” Glimmer ordered, “We have to stay low and you’re the one standing out the most!”

The brunette only responded with a huff from where she was standing with Adora and threw the hood of the cape they brought up her head, covering her cat-ears.

Though Catra was the most prominent one, they all had capes with hoods up their heads. It never hurt to play safe, especially since this wasn’t an inhabited planet they were trying to restore.

The ship was hidden in the middle of the woods that surrounded Elarion plus the cloaking, so the four friends were sure that no one would find the ancient ship. After a quick change of clothes shortly after the landing and digging for four cloaks in the storage of the ship, they were ready to enter the city.

Being the big city Entrapta described, it was fairly easy for them to find it. The sounds of busy people were their guides. The sounds became clear and clear until they turned into conversations and finally those voices had faces as the group entered a street.

The buildings were more modern in a way, almost all made of the same material of the citadels back in Etheria, but it still seemed like a common city.

Of course, the thing that stood out the most was… their language, or rather, how they wrote.

“Uh, Adora” Bow whispered to the blonde who was looking around the place excitedly.

“What is it?” She said, not really paying attention to him.

“We might have a problem…” This caught the blonde’s attention and she turned to face him “We have no idea what the heck any of this-” he pointed to a sign by his side with a clear First One sigil in it “-reads. You never taught us to read it.”

_Oh, that might be a problem._

“Oh, well it’s fairly basic once you get the hang of things!”

“How is this-” Glimmer pointed to another sign with not only one sigil but three “‘ _basic_ ’?” She air-quoted.

“Have to agree with sparkles, Adora.” Catra perked up “I still don’t get how you can get words out of this mess.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll teach you guys properly when we get back to the ship, but I’ll start explaining the basic of the basic.” The fumbled in her coat pocket and took out the blanket Hordak gave her. “Come near, I’ll teach you guys.” She smiled and her three friends surrounded her.

“It all starts with this diagonal line, we call it the ‘branch’,” her finger traced the golden thread, “these two dots at the end of the extremities indicate the end of the word. We read it from right to left.” Her finger came up down the diagonal line to the symbols under it, “Every single thing that isn’t a line under the branch is a phonetic symbol of the First Ones’ alphabet.” Her finger came to two dots side to side “These dots are the symbol for _‘E’_ , pronounced like the _e_ in _pet,_ for example. The next one, this trapezoid, stands for _‘L’.”_

Her finger stopped at the line after the trapezoid, a line broken and amended by a diagonal line.

“Sometimes, vowels are either lines or shapes. This is the line for _‘A’,_ like in _sad._ And so it goes on for every single symbol under the branch. In the end, we read the word _‘Elarion’._ ”

“That is actually a very interesting writing system.” Glimmer said an amused smile on her lips.

“Doesn’t mean we know how to read it though.” Catra huffed

“I’m curious about something, Adora.” Bow said, taking the blanket into his hands “What are these?” he pointed to the curvy lines on the top of the branch.

“Oh, these are for purely decorative purposes. Do it like whatever you like. Although, I never saw this design” she pointed to a few lines unconnected lines around the dots of the branch, almost making the dot a sun or something “usually they are connected to the branch when doing the decorations.” She scratched her head.

“Maybe they were trying to be different or something?” Glimmer suggested and Adora took her word for it, folding her blanket and putting it on her coat pocket once again.

“Hey, so what does this one read?” Catra pointed to a sign hanging up in a street light

“It reads… Market.”

“At least we know where to go when we need food.” Glimmer said and they advanced on the street.

* * *

The friends soon found themselves at a rather fancy street. The brightest one so far, which was hard to compete since everything seemed to shine more than Brightmoon.

“Hey, Catra,” Glimmer poked the brunette's side “Where is Melog?”

“He’s exploring while using his cloaking, don’t worry about him.”

“Oh, I see,” The queen looked around as she leaned into the bench they were both sitting and something caught her attention a few meters away. “I’ll be right back.” She said and left before Catra could argue. Bow and Adora were busy into their own attempts to find information around, so they didn’t see her slipping away either.

Glimmer crossed the road and put her hand on the glass of the store. She couldn’t read First One, but from what they had in display in the front, it seemed like a jewelry store. Fancy necklaces that Queen Angella used to wear to parties were displayed in the front and that made her heart sting. Some bracelets seemed very similar to the ones her mom insisted to use when going to fancy royal parties, even though they always seemed to be very tight and heavy on the wrists.

Glimmer took her shaking hand off the glass and took a deep breath, fully intending to go back to Catra.

But of course, she bumped into someone. And that someone who seemed to be in a rush, by the force they knocked Glimmer and themselves into the floor of the street. Glimmer’s hood went down on the impact and so did a few things they were carrying.

When the initial shock passed, she opened her eyes and found a few gems laying in the floor. Very expensive ones for what it seemed. She also looked at the person who bumped into her.

It was a young man, not taller than Bow, and probably not older than anyone on the Best Friend Squad. He wore a white undershirt that ended on his wrists and a pair of dark pink fingerless gloves. Over the white undershirt, he wore a light pink jacket that was closed by a few leather straps. He had a leather belt with a golden buckle. He wore dark-grey pants and brown boots. Of course, the thing that stood out the most was his long dark blond hair that ended on his shoulders and framed his face in an almost shaggy way.

“I am so sorry” Glimmer apologized, getting the gems on the floor in her hands “I didn’t mean to bump on you-”

The man didn’t waste any time and snatched the minerals from Glimmer’s hands forcefully and shoved it back in his bag before rushing off, not paying attention to her, or helping her get off the floor.

“A little _‘thanks’_ would’ve been nice, you know.” She muttered under her breath and got off the floor, patting her pants to take any possible dirt off. Her eyes caught on something shining, almost falling into the sewer under the street. She grabbed it and it was a blue gem, one that she and the young man didn’t notice.

 _“HELP!”_ Someone screamed, gaining the attention of everyone around. It was a woman who seemed to be in her early fifties. She had a tormented expression as she exited the store.

A man garbed in purple and blue approached her. He had a weapon on his hand.

“What is it, ma’am?”

“MY STORE WAS ROBBED!” Glimmer took a step back at that statement. _So that man was a thief?_ Glimmer thought to herself _No wonder why he left in such a hurry._ “I believe he’s part of the _group!”_ The woman stated and the man’s face got pale in an instant. He then whistled with two of his fingers and a few men wearing the same uniform appeared seemingly out of nowhere

“We have a code 45-2, men! Search the area! Don’t leave any stone unturned!” He ordered. Without thinking twice, all of them ran around the street, with narrowed eyes.

The elder woman was in clear distress. Her face was still white as a paper sheet.

“Ma’am?” Glimmer said and the woman looked at her direction “I know it’s not much, but that man left this behind.” She opened her palm, revealing the small gem she found.

“Oh! Thank you, young lady!” a smile appeared on the woman’s face as she grabbed the gem and put in the pocket of her dress.

“Glimmer!” Bow’s voice entered the Queen’s minds and shortly after he was hugging her tightly “A-Are you okay?! Did that thief hurt you?”

“I’m fine, Bow.” She reassured him but didn’t deny his hug. Glimmer also received a hug from Adora and a pat on the back from Catra, which was expected.

“I’m glad you’re okay, young lady.” The woman said, “if he _is_ part of the group, you could’ve been in very bad waters.”

“ _‘The group’_?” Adora asked

“You all must not be from around here.” She said, with her eyes dropping slightly “They’re a dangerous group of mercenaries and thieves. They’ve been operating on Elarion and the cities surrounding for almost a decade.”

“That sounds horrible,” Bow added.

Adora nodded in agreement, but the determined look on her face didn’t vanish.

“I’m very sorry for what happened ma’am, but we need to go, Glimmer.” Adora said, lightly pulling on Glimmer’s arm.

“Might I ask where you four young children are headed?” The woman asked with curiosity and concern in her voice. Adora froze in her tracks and her hand unconsciously brushed against her jacket pocket, where her blanket was being kept.

“Uh…” The blonde princess looked around, looking for any way out. Bow just nodded, his small smile almost demanding her to show the cloth she was carrying.

Even though she was reluctant, Adora got the cloth out of her pocket and showed the woman.

“I was wondering if you know where someone could get one of these blankets in this city.” The woman took the piece in her hands, rubbing her calloused hands over the golden thread.

“Well, you can’t. At least not anymore.” She stated.

“What do you mean?” Adora asked.

“Well, these blankets stopped being used about 15 years ago in the city’s public orphanage.”

_“…What?”_

* * *

“We’re very sorry to interrupt your shift, ma’am.” Bow says as they enter the house just above the store.

“It’s no problem, after all, I’m still waiting for the return of my stolen jewels. I don’t believe I would be able to focus when expensive gems are in the hands of a mercenary group.”

Everyone took a seat in the living room. Although everything seemed so modern, inside the house it seemed cozy and rustic.

“Ma’am-” Adora started but the elder woman was quicker

“Please call me Coraline.”

“Ms. Coraline, what can you say about this blanket and the orphanage?” Adora was at the edge of her seat. This was going to be the clue they needed to find more about her past.

“I once worked at the Elarion Orphanage. I worked there for almost 15 years, but 6 years ago, my older sister, owner, and heir of my family jewelry shop died. So I was the next in line to take care of the business she left behind, which meant I would have to step down from working at the orphanage.” Adora noticed the gloomy look she had on her face “I’ve always loved children, even adopted one from the orphanage a year after I left, so it was a shame that I left it. The blanket you have, young lady,” she focused her eyes, “is it yours?”

“Yes, I was… adopted!” She lied to the woman “I was adopted from the orphanage when I was just a little over one year, but _my parents,”_ she tried to suppress a scowl at that statement “never told me I was adopted.”

“I see. How old are you?”

“I’m almost 22.” Adora said and she saw the woman’s eyes get even sadder.

“Then, if you were there in the orphanage since a baby, there’s a high chance your parents were victims of _the plague.”_

“W-What plague?” Adora’s voice was shaking.

“22 years ago, a plague struck hundreds of people in Elarion, most of them were adults. Unfortunately, my husband was one of them. Their deaths left hundreds of children orphaned. That’s why we started using this specific blanket, to mark those children who arrived at that time.” The cyan is the color of our city, but the darker tone of this meant that tragedy had struck all of us.”

Adora could feel her heart shattering into pieces and a few tears leaking.

“S-So… I’ve come all this way… to know that my parents are dead?” She asked to herself. Her hands turned into fists who were shaking.

“I’m so sorry for telling all of this to you.” Coraline said, her eyes also had water, probably from remembering such a tragic and traumatizing event. Adora took a few deep breaths and wiped away the tears from her cheeks in an attempt to look stronger.

“It’s alright, I-I’ve been through worse.” In the end, it was the absolute truth. Her hands reached for the blanket again, her fingers tracing the golden thread, to the branch, to the symbols and lines, and finally to the dots ending the sentence.

Then she remembered.

“O-One last question, please?” The widow nodded “What do these small lines around the dots mean?”

The woman reached for the cloth, grabbing it with her hands, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the indicated pattern.

“Oh my…” The woman gained a shocked look in her features, her jaw hanging.

“What? What does it mean?”

“Because many children became orphans overnight, that meant siblings too. If two babies or children were orphaned together at the same time, their blankets would have the same decorative pattern stitched.”

“But that doesn’t exactly mean I have a sibling, or does it?” The woman nodded.

“It does. See, we wouldn’t have stitched these unconnected parts to it if it wasn’t the case.”

“So there’s a chance of them being alive?”

“Most likely. All the files about the orphans are in the Town Hall. It’s a good place to start looking for their whereabouts.” The woman smiled and Adora felt her heart swell. Her fists stopped shaking, and the tears had stopped just as hope settled within her. She did have a family after all. A sibling who most likely didn’t know about her existence, just like Adora didn’t know about their just a few minutes ago.

Easy to say, she wasn’t leaving Eternia without the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m in love with all of your comments and feedback _(I’m running out of ways to thank everyone lol)_  
>  I hope you guys like my take of Adora’s past. It’s definitely going to be different from the ’80s because the story of She-Ra and Eternia _are_ different in the reboot. But even if it’s different, I swear it’s not going to be lazy.


	5. It's all me in my head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Pride y'all! Here's a chapter for you guys, a little monotone than usual, but I swear the next one will have more things

** Chapter Four - It's all me in my head **

“Adora, was it?” Mrs. Coraline asked grabbing Adora’s arm to catch her attention. The squad was just about the leave the house of the elder woman, but it seemed she wasn’t done.

“Yes, that’s right” The blonde princess confirmed.

“You don’t happen to have the brooch that came with the blanket, do you?” Adora’s brow raised immediately.

“What brooch?”

“It’s a golden brooch that was used to hold the fabric together when we wrapped the babies at the orphanage. It had the name of the baby on the back.”

“Oh, no. I don’t have anything like that. Why do you ask?”

“Nothing in particular, it’s just… They usually give the brooch to the families when they do the adoption, so it’s a little weird that your parents have the blanket but not the brooch, which is way more valuable.”

Adora felt her heart race as her lie threatened to be exposed.

“Ah… F-Funny, huh? I’ll be sure to look for it when I get back to them hahah… HEY LOOK AT THE TIME!” She pretended to look at something on her wrist “My friends and I need to get going! It will be dark soon!”

She quickened her steps and took Catra’s hand maybe a bit more forcefully than the usual which earned a weird glance from her girlfriend, who, thankfully, didn’t comment on it.

“It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Coraline!” Glimmer said and waved at the woman as they went on their way.

“Whew, that was close.” Adora wiped a drop of sweat from the forehead and put her hood up once more.

“So the next step is the Town Hall, right?” Bow said.

“Yep!” Adora said proudly and a toothy smile on her face.

“But the only problem is… We don’t know where it is.” Catra said, shattering her girlfriend’s perfect smile as the realization hit her too.

“Shit” Adora cursed and buried her face in her hands

“Don’t worry, Adora. We can ask those guys who helped Mrs. Coraline earlier!” Glimmer perked up, sparking hope into their group.

“You’re right, we just need to find one of those guys! Let’s go!” She turned away from her friends and walked in front of them.

* * *

Melog finally joined the party after exploring the city for about an hour. He seemed to be getting tired quickly, especially after using his cloaking for so long, but he continued to follow them.

The sky started to get dark and the sun started lowering on the horizon and no sign of a single officer they could ask for directions

“Hey, Adora” Catra started, putting a hand on her shoulder “Maybe we should go back to the ship, it’s getting late. We can do the investigation tomorrow.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right” She put her hand over Catra’s and gave an affectionate squeeze.

“Let’s go then. I need some food!” Glimmer said and on cue, her stomach growled as if to further prove her point.

The squad walked into the opposite direction they were headed, the memories of the path that lead them to the market still fresh on their minds.

A big growl startled the friends again and they all looked at the queen.

“Glimmer, I know you’re hungry, but can’t you calm your stomach down? We’re trying to stay low” Adora whispered.

“Uh… That wasn’t me” The queen said and they all looked at each other.

Suddenly the ground beneath them shook and another loud growl was heard. They all turned into the direction of the sound.

A 30 feet tall creature had just landed on the street. It had 3 long necks with serpent heads at the end of each of them, red and black scales covering the entirety of its body and massive wings that could cover the entirety of the street if spread to its fullest.

The officers they were looking for just an hour ago appeared and tried to get everyone to safety, while some others gathered around the creature, with different types of weapons drawn at it.

“Kids! Go hide!” A middle-aged officer shouted at them while it turned to the creature, also with his weapon out for it.

Not wasting any time, they entered an empty alley, turning away from the fight. They hid behind a debris that had fallen and tried to sort their thoughts.

Glimmer was heavy breathing, a hand to her chest, Bow was sweating profusely, Catra’s eyes were widened and Melog had a grey-lilac color to his mane, meaning Catra was really scared.

Adora on the other hand, had her eyes shut in what it seemed to be concentration and had her hands on the ground, feeling first hand the vibrations the creature was creating.

Glimmer’s heart rate seemed to slow down and she took in what Adora was doing.

“Adora?” No response “Adora!” The blonde seemed to be in a different reality “Adora! Are you listening to us?” Glimmer shouted as she shook Adora by her shoulders.

“I… I can hear it.” The blonde said, her eyes still shut tightly.

“What are you talking about?!”

“The creature… it’s… scared. Something must have scared it from the outskirt forest, making it flee to the city!”

“That’s great, but what are we supposed to do with this?” Catra asked as the sounds of the creature only became more horrifying to hear.

“You three? Nothing. But _I can_.” She got off her the ground and tossed her cloak away into the ground, stepping away from the alley.

The scene she saw plagued the princess’s mind. The creature screaming and it’s wings flowing around without a care of what or who they might hit on accident. The officers from earlier still had their weapons out and seemed to be planning a formation to properly attack the creature. It wouldn’t take long before they were able to hurt it for good or worse, struck it down. Adora had to do something.

She stopped in the middle of the street, ignoring her friends calling her name and she put her right hand in front of her body. It didn’t take more than 2 seconds for the mighty sword to appear in front of her so she could grab it.

Taking her weapon up, she shouted like it was the first time in a million years:

“ _For the honor of Grayskull!_ ”

The sword emitted its beam of light, enveloping her body in it. As always, it first came her high boots with the golden wings. Then the golden bracers in each of her forearms. The rest of her outfit materialized as she felt the surge of confidence and magic course through her veins. Her golden tiara finally took form to compliment her now golden and long hair who was up in her classic ponytail.

Adora was nowhere to be seen. She-Ra had made her appearance at last.

She heard gasps from passersby who had yet to leave the area. She looked around her, encountering Bow’s disapproving gaze, Glimmer shaking her head in disbelief, Catra, as usual, had a slight blush to her cheeks, and Melog changed his lilac mane to a light pink one.

By hearing the gasps from the citizens, the officers looked at her direction, losing concentration from planning their attack on the creature.

Still with her sword in her hand, Adora walked calmly through the street, her confidence not wavering by the dozens of gazes that were directed towards her.

The officers didn’t try to stop her from approaching the creature, who upon seeing the blinding but warm light the hero was emanating, calmed down.

One of its heads came down to meet Adora who smiled warmly at the creature. The head stopped when Adora’s hands reached its scaly skin.

Adora shut her eyes, but her smile didn’t fade for a second. The wings accommodated beside its body and finally, she felt it had calmed down.

She slowly took her hand away from the creature, who seemed grateful for what she did.

“Go back. They won’t hurt you now” She whispered and just like that, the creature spread it’s massive wings and flew into the sunset. Adora smiled.

_“It’s…” “Gods… Is it?” “It can’t be!” “But we saw it with our own eyes!”_ the murmurs around caught the heroine’s attention. She looked around and saw dozens of people approaching her with quick steps.

“She-Ra? Is that really you?” an elder woman asked.

“Are you the woman from the stories my mom tells me?” A child that seemed to be not older than 10 said.

“This has to be some trick! There hasn’t been a She-Ra for millennia!” A middle-aged man said, suspicion dripping from his voice.

A loud chatter began. Some people were staring at her, others were debating if it really was the real She-Ra from the legend or just a fake.

“Enough, enough!” The officer who told them to hide earlier finally said and took a stance in front of Adora “Leave the area, citizens, there’s nothing for you to see here!” Other members of the force swayed the passersby, leaving only the hero and the man who interrupted the chatter, who eventually turned to face her.

“So, I take it you’re the real She-Ra?” Even though he was against a 9-feet legendary warrior, his face was still serious and his voice wasn’t wavering.

“Yes, sir.” Adora’s days on the Horde were far gone, but she still remembered the proper etiquette when talking to higher-ranking officials.

“I certainly didn’t believe in the myth of the warrior She-Ra myself when growing up, but what I just witnessed, the very image of the legendary warrior taming a ferocious beast with a flick of her hand, it’s not something I can’t deny.”

Adora’s serious face faltered at the words “ _ferocious beast_ ” and her face soured instantly.

“I am sorry, officer, but you are wrong. The creature was merely scared from something it witnessed and fled into the city in an attempt to run away from whatever it was.”

“Perhaps you are right, but it doesn’t matter. At least a dozen people were injured by its breakdown right here, so we were doing our job of protecting Elarion by attempting to strike it down.”

“ _What?!_ Is that how you see it?!” Adora wasn’t able to contain her anger anymore “Just because it hurt some people on accident, it doesn’t justify killing it!” Her hand was balled into a fist, gripping the handle of her sword harder than ever before.

“But it does. That creature is just one of Eternia’s Fauna. One less wouldn’t make a single difference. If you are a proper protector of Eternia, you should be able to understand that.”

“You-”

“Let it go, She-Ra.” Glimmer said, trying to pull Adora from the spot.

“Yeah, it’s not worth it.” Catra said as she tugged lightly on Adora’s wrist, who seemed to relax at the touch.

“Y-You’re right.” The princess said, turning away from the officer, her face still sour.

They entered the alley they were hiding a few minutes ago and Adora dropped her transformation, but her frown didn’t vanish.

“So, what happened with ‘ _staying low_ ’?” Glimmer asked

“I… I know what I said, but you guys don’t understand! The creature’s screams were the most horrifying thing in the world when I understood why it was like that! It seemed traumatized by something! I-” Adora felt the tears threatening to flow “I couldn’t just leave it to die when all it needed was a reassuring word!”

“Adora…” Glimmer started before she took a deep breath “It’s okay. Sure, it’s not what we planned, but you could’ve revealed She-Ra in a million worse scenarios, so it’s okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” The Queen nodded “Let’s go back to the ship. It’s getting late and we need to rest if we want to go look for your files in the town hall tomorrow.”

The blonde nodded, getting her cloak that was discarded on the floor

* * *

It didn’t take long before the squad reached the ship for a good night of sleep. Bow and Glimmer were sharing the biggest mattress since they both had tendencies to roll around the bed during the night. Melog was sleeping silently in his own mattress at the corner of the room. Catra and Adora were sleeping together, Catra being the little spoon and purring in her sleep. Adora, on the other hand, was wide awake, but not in a bad way, she just needed to sort everything they discovered

First, she really was from Elarion. Her parents died in a plague little time after she was born. She became an orphan and started living in the orphanage for about a year until Light Hope stole her from Eternia and put her in the hands of Hordak.

Of course, the most important information was that she wasn’t an only child. She had a sibling. Someone out there, clueless to the fact that they had a sister who was alive all this time.

Adora was going to change that fact, once and for all.


	6. I don't wanna lose this with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little different: It’s over 3k of words! I didn’t expect it to become so big! I just went with the flow of things and it ended up like this  
> Also, I didn't revise this chapter as much as I do with the others because it's almost midnight here, but tomorrow, when I'm fully rested, I'll revise and erase any typos! Hopefully, they won't make this chapter hard to read.

** Chapter Five - I don't wanna lose this with you **

“Bow, where are you going?”

Glimmer’s head was popping through the ship’s entrance door. Bow was at the end of the metal ramp. The queen teleported to stand a few feet in front of him.

“Hey! You startled me!” The archer said, putting a hand on his chest.

“I saw you leaving the ship and came to check on you.” She explained, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to look for some First One’s tech so when we go back to Etheria, Entrapta can study them.”

“But doesn’t she have available a thousand citadels and ruins in Etheria already?”

“Yeah, but First One’s haven’t been on Etheria for over a thousand years! Their technology must have improved. That’s what Entrapta wants to research more.”

“I guess that makes sense, but aren’t you going with Adora to the Town Hall today?”

“Adora is going alone. She’s the only one who can read her way around the town and besides, I’ll be back before she leaves.”

“Alright just-” her face soured with worry “-just be careful, okay?” she held his hand tenderly “don’t get trapped on a crazy place or whatever.” She brought his fingers to her lips and kissed them, before pulling him to a kiss on the lips. It was quick but sweet. “A good luck kiss.” She murmured after they separated and smiled up at him, her cheeks red.

“I can already feel my luck changing.” He said and planted a kiss on her forehead. Their hands separated and Glimmer teleported away, leaving her usual trail of sparkles behind.

The archer adjusted his quiver and took out his little device, the same one he used to locate Sword of Protection and many others First One’s artifacts over the years. It would certainly help him locate something for Entrapta in the woods.

Bow didn’t know where to go first, the ship was interfering with the signals, being such a big artifact, so he had to get far from it before he could think about tracking something.

He didn’t where he was going as he went through dozens of trees and bushes, all of them with very distinct shapes and colors.

Ten minutes had passed and still, the ship was the only thing it was able to locate. Bow was losing his patience quickly.

“WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?” The archer banged his head against the device. In response, the device turned off, “Wow, just great world! Please! Send another threat to screw me over-” A rustling sound was heard behind a bush. In instinct, he grabbed his bow and pulled an arrow out of his quiver “W-Who’s there?!” Silence. The cold breeze hit the back of his neck, stopped for half a second, and hit it again. _Someone blocked the wind._

“I don’t want to fight! Just… Just show yourself!” He could definitely have sounded more confident, but at least his voice didn’t crack like usual.

It was silence for a few more moments before a branch broke a few feet behind him. He turned around and shot an arrow into the darkness the treetop was creating. Silence again.

Then a dagger went flying for his face.

In the last second, Bow was able to dodge it and the dagger hit the tree behind him.

He’d lost his concentration and when trying to look at the assailant, he tripped over his feet and feel on the ground.

The person finally revealed themselves and Bow’s jaw had gone slack.

“You’re in prohibited territory. Turn around and leave before it gets ugly for you” he said as he pointed another dagger into his direction.

Bow recognized him as the thief from yesterday. He was even wearing the same clothes, though now on his belt, he had a pair of dagger sheats on it, one of each side of him.

“You’re the guy!” The archer exclaimed, clearly not fazed or afraid that a member of such a dangerous group was threatening him.

“Do I know you?” He asked, the snarl clear on his voice.

“Well, not exactly, but I saw you yesterday! After you robbed Mrs. Coraline’s store!”

“Who?” He asked.

“So you robbed her store, but you don’t even know her name? Well, that’s just rude.”

“Listen!” He got the dagger closer to his face “I’m the one leading the conversation.” He said and Bow felt a bit of cockiness in his voice as if he was proud of taking charge of things “I gave you a chance to leave, but it seems you’re refusing. And now that I know you recognized me, you give me no choice but to end this right here and right now!”

Bow had nowhere to run. The edge of the dagger was dangerously close to his face and from what it seemed, the man was a master with throwing daggers or things around, so he just closed his eyes and braced for impact.

But it never came.

What did come was a large earthquake. Then stopped for a moment before resuming and stopping again in a pattern. Soon, Bow realized it wasn’t an Earthquake, but giant footsteps like the ones from yesterday in the city, though these felt like something much, much bigger and heavier.

Bow opened his eyes and saw the man had pulled dagger away from his face, the expression on his face was pure confusion. The shaking continued.

The treetops were shaking and the leaves were falling.

A shadow loomed over the clearing they were standing. Looking up, he saw the same creature from yesterday, only this time it had five heads and was about 40 feet tall.

“Shi-” The blond tried to curse, but the creature’s eyes narrowed when it noticed him, its heads screamed a deafening sound, but the scream was different from yesterday. Those weren’t the scared screams he heard. Those were of anger.

He raised one of its massive claw and tried to squish the pair. Bow was quick, and got off the ground, grabbing the blond by his shoulders and pulling him away from the impact and leaning against the tree that was pierced by the dagger.

The creature pulled its paw away and all stayed silent for a few moments. That is until one of the 5 heads sunk into the clearing and saw the two of them before it screeched again.

In instinct, Bow grabbed the dagger from the tree trunk with one of his hands and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the forest.

“C’mon!” Bow screamed as they passed through branches, bushes, and rocks.

They stopped to a halt when they saw a stone gate that led into a cave. Not thinking twice, they entered the cave.

They ran deeper into the dimly lit cave, turning into some tunnels until the growling became silent. They both stopped in the middle of a tunnel, heavy breathing and labored breaths.

Bow dropped his hands to his knees and tried to calm his heart.

“Wow… That was… close… uh?!” He offered a small smile to the blond, who was also in the middle of calming his heart.

It took a moment but he finally acknowledges that Bow was talking to him.

“I… guess so?”

“What did that creature want with you? It seemed mad at you.”

“I-” he hesitated in answering but gave in quickly “I might have messed with its babies yesterday…”

“Wait… that was a mom?”

“Yeah? I mean, a five-headed Chuya is an adult. Everyone knows that.”

“I’m not from- nevermind that. So the one that was in the city was a baby?”

“How many heads it had?”

“Three.”

“Not a baby then, but not old enough to lay eggs, so let’s say it was a teenager.” The blond was especially chatty now. Well, Bow should know by now that facing imminent danger is a good bonding technique. That’s how it started with Adora and then Catra.

Bow noticed the dagger was still in his hand. It seemed to be expensive because a very intricate design was carved on the handle.

He turned and offered the dagger to the blond, who backed away when he saw the sharp edge in his direction.

“This is yours.”

The blond blinked a few times before speaking.

“Why are you giving me my dagger back? Aren’t you afraid?” Bow only smiled back.

“I don’t think you are dangerous anymore. Also, you owe me for saving your life from that creature.” Bow replied “And maybe we can start over? No weapons involved?” He hesitantly took the dagger from his hand and put it on the sheat.

“…Thank you.” He said and avoided the archer’s gaze, though Bow could faintly see red in his face. Of course, the dimly lit tunnels didn’t help, so he supposed it was just his imagination.

“The name is Bow! Nice to meet you…?” He offered his hand, which the blond took with some hesitation before shaking it lightly.

“Adam.”

* * *

“Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction? All of these tunnels look like a maze to me”

“We’re headed on the direction we entered, which is the entrance of these tunnels.” Adam explained as he watched the pair of footsteps on the ground.

“But I’m sure I saw this tunnel already!”

“You must be imagining things, let’s go. No time to waste.” Adam said and he didn’t bother to look back to see if Bow was following him.

The archer did stop for a second and pulled out one of his arrows. He shot the arrow straight into the stone wall and it stayed there. If he was right and something was up with the tunnels, this would prove him right.

He started following Adam again.

* * *

“SEE! I told you!” Bow shouted and pointed to the arrow stuck in the wall. “We are walking in circles! These tunnels must be a maze! We need to stop following the steps and-” He looked at the blond beside him.

Adam’s eyes were wide and his hands were trembling as he took in his surroundings.

“Adam?”

“No, no, no! We’re screwed!” He shouted and started pacing back and forth.

“What?”

“I thought this was a legend, but there’s no way this isn’t the… **FUCK!** I’M SUCH A DUMBASS!” He cursed at himself and dropped to the floor.

Bow watched the man tremble on the spot.

“Can you explain to me what’s going on? Where exactly are we and which legend are you talking about?”

“Do you not know anything about First Ones’ mythology or something?” He asked, clearly done with the whole situation

“Well, no. Not really.” Bow said sincerely and Adam’s brow raised but he made no further comments on his lack of knowledge.

“There’s this old tale. About a cave that’s thousands of years old. It was made by the original First Ones to keep a powerful weapon hidden at the end of the maze. The tunnels are endless and they change to make the intruders that dare to enter, lost forever.”

“Any hope of us being able to leave?”

“No.” He brought his knees closer to his chest and put his chin on top of it, his hands trembling.

Bow took a seat on the ground beside him. Both of them were silent for a moment until Bow heard Adam take a deep breath.

“I- can’t believe this is how I die. In an ancient maze with a man I met an hour ago. I c-can’t-” His voice started to tremble “I can’t believe I’m never seeing _her_ again.” He whispered, his voice full of emotion and pain.

_Her? Maybe a girlfriend or a mother? Maybe he’s not so heartless like Mrs. Coraline said he was._

Bow closed his eyes and got off the ground.

“No. We’re not giving up. Whoever you are eager to, you’re seeing her.”

“But… how? There’s no way we can leave this place!”

“I’ve been through worse things. It’s not going to be a cave that’s going to stop me.” Bow took his tracker out and tried turning it on. After a few tries, the device turned on. “Aha! There it is!” A glowing spot appeared on the map. Far away from them. “If this is the ancient weapon at the end of the maze, we just need to get as far away from it as we can. No matter what it takes. Now come on!” Bow offered a kind smile and his hand.

The blond seemed shocked by his sudden outburst, but accepted before he was pulled up by the archer.

“Now c’mon! As you said, no time to waste!”

* * *

“Can I ask you what did you do with the jewels you stole from Mrs. Coraline’s store yesterday?”

“I don’t really know. I just got the job to do it. I don’t really know who paid the Group to get them stole or what they did with them.” Adam explained as he kicked a pebble that was on the ground.

“So it’s all anonymous?”

“I’m going to stop you there. We may know each other’s names or whatever, but I’m not about to reveal information about how the Group operates.”

“Awn.” Bow sighed in defeat, “I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Nope.”

* * *

“Hey, since we’re on the topic of mercenaries, I once met a mercenary myself!” Bow said proudly.

“Oh, did you now?” Adam had a cocky smile on his lips.

“Yep! They’re a shapeshifter specialized in spying on people. They spied on us, created so much trouble! That’s where their name comes!”

“You seem very eager talking about how you met a criminal.”

“Most of my friends have, whether accidentally or on purpose, tried to kill someone by this point. Double Trouble was just in for the money.” Catra and Adora both were after princess at some point and Glimmer almost killed everyone in the universe by activating the Heart of Etheria.

“That’s great to know, Bow. Really.”

* * *

“Stop.” Adam’s voice made Bow stop to a halt and look back at him.

The blond was looking towards the ceiling of the cave. Bow noticed cracks were starting to form. Before he could think, the ceiling came crashing down on top of them.

On the last second, Adam pulled Bow away from the crash.

“Now I paid the debt of you saving my life. You’re welcome.” He replied quickly and looked up from the hole that was created by the ceiling.

“Are you thinking of going through that hole?”

“Well, yeah!” He used the stones that fell from the ceiling as leverage to climb through the hole “Stay here, if there’s something useful up there, I’ll warn you and you climb your way.” He said, his head poking through the hole and disappearing right after.

Bow fixated his eyes on the ceiling and heard some steps above him.

_“Hey! There’s a light at the end of the tunnel!”_

“DON’T GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!” Bow shouted

 _“It’s not that kind of light!”_ The archer felt some déjavù at the blond’s words _“Grab my hand!”_ a gloved hand appeared from the hole.

Sure enough, there was a literal light at the end of the tunnel.

_The sun._

* * *

“It’s an exit!” It was a hole that was covered by some vines, making it impossible to find it from the outside, but as the pair looked down, there it was. The same stone gate that led them into the cave and some pretty big footprints on the ground.

They slide down the cave stone exterior and were finally able to breathe.

“That was an adventure I didn’t expect to have!” Bow laughed in relief, his voice cracking slightly

“Me too, friend” Adam said without thinking

“You see me as a friend?” The archer smiled at the blond who flashed red in embarrassment but didn’t deny it “That’s awesome! I want you to meet my friends! I’m sure you’ll like them!”

“Wow! Not happening. Where never talking what happened inside the cave again. You and are probably never going to see each other again, also there’s no way the Group is allowing me to have any contact with someone from outside.”

“Then just leave it!”

“I can’t just leave the Group. They’ve been my family for the past 6 years! They gave me more than the world ever could. I won’t betray them like this.”

“Adam, my friend used to think the same thing. Well, it was more based on prejudice and _power_ than _attachment_ , but she found her way out and now she’s considered a hero! But she’s also a great person.”

“I- That’s not my destiny. Your friend was lucky, but I’m not like her. I’ve been alone all my life since I was born. No parents, no family, no friends, no purpose in life, but the Group gave me that! I’m nothing like you or your friend.” He was clearly trembling and his voice was full of emotion.

“Adam, don’t say that. I know it’s hard, but I saw good in you today. You could’ve killed me anytime you wanted, but you chose peace and chose to listen to someone who is supposed to be your enemy. You’re a hero, Adam.” His grey-blue eyes widened at that and he pushed Bow into the ground.

“I’m not a hero! I’m nothing like those heroes! I’m not like She-Ra or any of your friends. They have a destiny. I don’t have that! I don’t have a sword who can turn me into a hero in the blink of an eye just by saying five stupid words!”

“Adam-”

“Leave. Go back to your hero friends. I don’t need you or them.” He pointed a dagger at him and Bow saw that his eyes were watery, but it seemed like nothing was changing.

He took notice of the sky. It was almost sundown and Adora was leaving for the Town Hall as soon as the night feel. And he needed to go back to Glimmer.

Devoid of all his usual cheerfulness, Bow got off the ground and left the area, not sparring any last glances to the thief who he was considering a friend.

* * *

Adam stood in front of the cave, pacing back in forth for minutes after Bow left.

He was telling himself. There was no way he was a hero. Bow was lying. The Group told them, heroes had destinies, but he didn’t have one. _He wasn’t destined for greatness like the chosen ones._

“ARGH! Why am I doubting everything I’ve stood for?!” He gripped on his dark-blond hair and pulled it, “It’s not like I have the power to fight! I mean, look at me! I’m just a 21-year-old! It’s not like I can grab a sword-” he took off one of his daggers out of its sheath and held it above his head “-and say… what’s the catchphrase?” He rubbed his head deep in thought before the lamp went off in his head “Ah! ‘By the Power of Grayskull!’” He raised his dagger above his head and shouted before his face fell, realizing his mistake “Wait, no that’s He-”

A loud thunder was heard inside the cave and a bright light shone inside.

_“What?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so yeah. It’s Adam. No surprises here, folks. Adam’s personality in this is like Catra and Adora’s personality mixed together. He doesn’t hesitate to put himself in danger, is kinda a dumb jock just like Adora, but he’s cocky and too proud like Catra.  
> Honestly, I feel like he and Catra have some parallels I unintentionally put in when developing him and his role in this story, which you guys will see more in the future. For now, I’m planting some seeds of plots for future chapters. _Hopefully,_ I won’t forget any of them and leave untied ends *sweats nervously*


	7. I'm the one who burned us down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh… hi! It’s been a while huh? Ok, not just “a while”, it’s been over a month! Let me explain everything before you come after me with pitchforks:  
> I was planning on writing this chapter on June 7th, a Sunday. That same day, my computer decided to die and it stayed broken for about two weeks before I got it fixed. When I got it fixed, I needed to work on something that was due to the beginning of July and it was something so big I needed to take all of my time that I would’ve dedicated to this fanfic to work on that. But now all of that is finally done! And I can finally go back to updating this regularly!   
> I want to say I’m sorry to everyone who was invested in this fanfic and I let down after this whole month and I want to thank all of my beautiful friends who read this fic and were the biggest sweeties about my situation. Also, I want to thank all the messages I got on my Tumblr asking about any updates! It makes me glad that people still remembered this story after such a long time.  
> Anyway, that’s all that I wanted to say. Enjoy the chapter!

** Chapter Six - I'm the one who burned us down **

“Where is Bow? The sun is already set!” Glimmer paced around the room, her head in her hands.

“I don’t know, Sparkles. You were the last one to see him!” Catra pointed a claw at the queen from her spot on the captain’s chair.

“It was a rhetorical question, Catra!” Glimmer yelled

Suddenly, the metal doors of the control room opened, revealing a rather gloomy Bow standing on the other side.

“Bow!” Glimmer cried out and ran into his arms, embracing him and wiping her worried tears against his chest.

“Oof!” He exclaimed when she bumped onto him “H-Hey Glimmer! What’s happening?”

“What’s happening?! I thought you got lost or something!”

“Well... Nevermind, it’s not important. I just lost track of time, that’s all.”

“We’re just glad you’re okay.” Adora said and shook Bow lightly on his shoulder.

“Thanks, I didn’t find anything for Entrapta though.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to do that.” Glimmer answered.

“Well, I would love to stay and have a chat about why you made us worried, but I need to leave so I can infiltrate the Town Hall as the night falls.” Adora said, pulling her red coat over her shoulders.

“Why do you need to infiltrate the town hall again?” Bow asked

“Well, the files on orphans are not going to be handed to me. I need to be stealthy.” She went forward and grabbed a hair tie that was dangling from Catra’s fingers

“Couldn’t She-Ra ask them to give the files? I’m sure they wouldn’t deny it.” Bow proposed

“I don’t wanna flash my ‘hey I’m She-Ra' badge around town. It’s too dangerous. We don’t know who to trust.”

“She’s right, Arrow boy. The Horde might have been made of assholes, but they did teach us how to infiltrate high-security places.”

Bow didn’t fully understand it yet, he probably never would, considering he wasn’t raised by the Horde, so he shrugged his shoulders in acceptance of her words.

Adora gave Catra a kiss on the lips and tied her hair up in her ponytail before turning to Bow and Glimmer.

“Well, I have no idea when I’ll be back. Don’t stay up waiting for me. I’m talking to you Catra.” Adora pointed a finger at the woman.

“You can’t blame me for being worried about my girlfriend!” Catra answered with her eyes narrowing

“But you can’t blame me for being worried about you not getting enough sleep!” Adora shot back with a pout on her lips.

They locked eyes and their serious faces faded as they laughed at each other.

With one last kiss, they separated. Adora gave a tight hug to Bow and Glimmer who returned it.

Pulling her brown cloak from the captain's chair, she waved her hand at her friends before the metal door closed in front of her.

* * *

Adora leaned against the wall of the town hall building. Some guards were patrolling around the scene, though few due the late hour.

It didn’t take long for her to figure out the pattern of the rounds. It reminded her of the old Horde Days, where she and Catra would sneak around the older cadets to raid the kitchen for the grey ration bar. Or just to be kids and enjoy the thrill of breaking the very strict rules of the Horde.

Adora smiled at the memories that made her heart flutter.

The sound of the guards’ boots hitting the ground alerted her. A window of time opened to her.

Silently as she could, she snuck around the guards, using the shadows as her ally until she found a real window that was already open, which she found it weird, but didn’t have the time to think too much as she heard another round of guards coming her way.

Once she was inside the building, she still needed to be careful. She could hear some mild chatter down the hall, probably some people working overnight to her dismay.

The main hall where she had snuck in through the window was empty and almost all the main lights of the ceiling were turned off, but Adora quickly realized the floor was extremely loud when she heard some workers walking past her as they bid goodnight to their co-workers and the floor creaked under their hurried steps.

Her eyes scanned the poorly lit room and she quickly found the secretary’s desk. Surely she would have some kind of clue where they kept the orphanage files.

Adora’s steps were quiet as she approached the vacant desk and when she finally reached it, she quietly opened a drawer, finding some old files, a journal, and finally an appointment book. Adora opened it, her eyes narrowing as she tried to read the entries.

A bunch of strange names after, she finally found an entry from last month that caught her attention:

_2 PM - Orphanage carers will come to deliver the new files. P.S: Tell them about the new dedicated room to those files, on the second floor right after the “crime cases” room._

“Bingo!” Adora whispered excitedly. She put the book back to where it belonged but immediately crouched behind the table when she heard another worker passing by the main hall.

Her eyes scanned the room and she found a map of the town hall sitting on a wall. The stairs that led her to the second floor weren’t that far from the main hall, she just needed to go through a hall.

The blonde looked at the direction the said hall and saw that differently from the room she was in now, that said the hall was very well lit and she could hear the chatter she heard a few minutes before was coming from there.

She let out a sigh when she realized that maybe she could’ve put good use of Melog’s invisibility cloak to sneak in. She almost smacked herself in the face when she realized that she didn’t think of asking Catra about that. _Well, it’s no use to cry over the dropped ration bar,_ she thought to herself.

A lightbulb went off in her mind. She just needed to create a distraction big enough to pry their eyes away from whatever they were doing in that hall. But what?

Another lightbulb went off and she snapped her fingers.

She put her back against the wall that cornered into the hall and she summoned her She-Ra shield. Maybe if the shield hit a very crucial object in the hall that could potentially distract them, it would be enough so she could sneak past them.

She peaked into the place and scanned it. There were less than a dozen people in there, but if one of them spotted her, it was going to be enough to throw her into a cell.

Her eyes spotted a text on the furthest wall which, when translated from First Ones it said _Don’t Touch Emergency Alarm_ and a red button under it.

 _Perfect,_ she thought to herself.

Adora angled her shield just right so it would hit the button and threw it.

The shield hit the button and when it started buzzing, it disappeared into thin air before anyone could even notice it was even there.

The sound was infernal, so it was perfect for her heist.

While people scattered and tried to deactivate the alarm, she snuck past them and when she finally found herself going up the stairs to the second floor, she had to restrain herself from cheering.

The second floor was deserted, but she noticed some dirty footsteps on the clean floor, meaning that someone was still up here.

She started looking through the signs in the hall.

_Mayor’s Gabinet, bathrooms, breakroom, library, crime cases._

Adora’s brain connected the dots to the referenced evidence room from the appointment book and she sprinted towards it, finding it when she read the golden sign on the doorframe. She walked past the locked room and eyed the next door, it had no sign but it had to be this one.

She was half expecting to need to break in the door, but strangely enough, the door was already open. Was she just having a stroke of luck or something?

She shook her head _(she didn’t have the time to dwell about that)_ and opened the door slowly.

The room was cramped with shelves with boxes and inside those said boxes, there were folders with files. She needed to find the files from 22 years ago, the year she was born. It was going to be easy.

* * *

It wasn’t.

She doesn’t know how much time she spent searching for the said files. Mrs. Coraline wasn’t kidding when she said that a lot of kids had been left orphans after the plague. The discrepancy between the last years and two decades ago was honestly baffling.

After boxes and more boxes, she found the files she was looking for.

Quietly she opened the box and scanned the folders with her eyes, looking for anything familiar to her. And she did find it.

She immediately recognized the symbol on her blanket stamped on top of a folder. She hurriedly put the box down and opened the file and found-

“IT’S EMPTY?!” She screamed.

The folder was empty, but that couldn’t be. Why would the file about _her_ be missing? If someone took it, why would they leave the folder?

She groaned and buried her face in her hands. Was it a lost cause? Did the stroke of luck she was having during the whole night ended right here?

She wanted to cry. She was going back to the ship with no new leads. The only one she had had just been taken from her before she even got here.

She took a deep breath and tried calming her breaths. She had to be sane if she wanted to even leave the Town Hall.

Her heart race seemed to calm down and she wiped the threatening tears away.

She put the file back into the box and crammed it back into the shelf as silently as she could.

But it really did seem like her luck had run out. She heard voices down the corridor and a lot of steps.

 _“They broke into the cases room!”_ Her heart seemed to stop beating for a second and she froze on the spot.

 _“Look at this mess! Whoever did this will pay!”_ a loud voice shouted and Adora guessed it was a guard.

_“Did they break into any other rooms?”_

_“Let’s check!”_

Adora wanted to curse to any God out there. There was no way she was escaping this.

“I should’ve asked for Melog, I should’ve asked Catra for help! Why do I insist on doing everything alone on myself? I’m such an idiot!” She muttered to herself, already feeling the tears coming.

The handle of the door twisted and Adora closed her eyes, silently preparing herself for the worst.

 _“So? Anyone in there?”_ She heard a voice calling from the hallway but didn’t dare to open her eyes.

“All clear.” _What?_

She opened her eyes and saw a guard closing the door.

She snapped her eyes open and couldn’t help but feel a familiar surge of magic through her veins.

_“Good, they’re gone.”_

Adora looked around but saw no one else. That is until the surge of magic ended and she understood what was happening. Catra and Melog were standing beside her. Melog had just used his cloaking ability to save her ass. Adora was left staring at her girlfriend intently, her jaw hanging open.

“You know, Melog and I just saved your cute butt. Can you at least say _thank you_ for it?” Catra teased, her voice in a low volume so she wouldn’t bring any more attention to them.

Instead of saying anything, Adora ran to her arms, kissing her passionately.

“What are you doing here?” She asked when they pulled apart.

“I was up waiting for you.” Catra mumbled and Adora shot her a disapproving look but let her continue, “Well do you know about that alarm that went off a while ago? It was actually an emergency alarm that sirened through the whole city. I knew that you had something to do with it since you can’t do anything without being extra as hell, so Melog and I tried to get here as fast we could.”

“Couldn’t he had teleported you here in an instant?”

“You’re kidding, right? This place is so far from the ship! If Melog had even thought of using this ability to reach you in an instant, he would’ve passed out from exhaustion!”

“Alright, alright. I get it.” Adora lightly chuckled, “Thank you for saving me.” She gazed into Catra’s bi-colored eyes with love and Catra returned the affectionate stare. Catra leaned for a kiss, but Adora stopped her with a finger to her lips.

“Maybe we should get out of here? And finish all of this at the ship? When there are no guards out to get me and you from breaking and entering?” The blonde suggested.

“Alright, fine.” Catra rolled her eyes fondly and stared at her pet, “Let’s go Melog.” Catra said and he only nodded before cloaking them and teleporting both of them out of the room.

They ended up outside the building, right next to the open window Adora had found earlier.

Again, she didn’t have enough time to dwell into the beginning of her stroke of luck because a shadowed figure jumped out of the window and ran into the night as fast as they could.

A few seconds after, a guard looked out of the window before shouting some codes to his co-workers before coming back inside and leaving through the front door.

“What the heck was that?” Catra asked when they finally felt safe. Adora didn’t answer as she stared intently into the direction the shadowed figure went.

Her eyes dropped from the horizon and she looked at the ground and a small piece of paper was laying upside down. She picked it up and turned it around. Her heart seemed to stop beating for a quick second.

It was a clear picture of her as a baby. The big blue eyes, the dirty blonde hair, the dark cyan blanket wrapped around her. It was undoubtedly her before she went missing.

“That’s you! I would recognize that forehead anywhere!” Catra said, genuinely happy.

“That person we just saw… they took my files!”

“Wait you didn’t find your files?”

“No! They must have taken it! And they must have been the person who broke into the crime cases room the guard talked about!” Adora said, connecting the dots in her head.

“So, we don’t have a lead now?”

“On the contrary! If they went out of their way to break in and steal a case, they must want it gone or want it to use it as blackmail! If we find out exactly which case they took it, it can lead us to the thief of my files!” Adora said, her voice cheery and excited. Catra smiled at her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

“Looks like we do have a lead now.” She kissed Adora’s cheek affectionately, “Now can we go back to the ship? And rest? I don’t want to do anything else tonight.”

Adora nodded and they hopped onto Melog’s back as they rode back.

Even though Adora’s mind was no longer racing as much as it was before, she didn’t stop gripping the photograph that was in her coat pocket.

It seemed like her stroke of luck was beginning again.


	8. I don't wanna do this to you

** Chapter Seven - I don't wanna do this to you **

“Bad news everyone. We ran out of food.” Glimmer said as she entered the kitchen.

“What? How do you expect us to survive on this planet without food, Sparkles?” Catra said as she was sitting on top of the counter, Melog curled at her feet.

“Well, Entrapta did warn Adora that we would eventually run out of food.” Bow said as he stopped looking for any kind of food in the cupboards.

“So? We’re still out of food.” Catra scoffed and Glimmer sighed, leaning her back against a counter beside Catra.

“It’s not that big of a deal, just go to the market we found days ago and buy food.” Bow said. Catra and Glimmer looked at each other and back at Bow.

“Bow, the problem is… we have no money.”

“And unless we go back to the ol’ Horde ways of getting good food-”

“Is that your way of saying _stealing?_ ” Glimmer interrupted but Catra raised a clawed finger to the former’s lips.

“If we don’t do _that_ , we’re all dying of starvation.”

“Are you actually considering doing that?” Bow inquired.

“Of course not. You guys should know me better by now.” She scoffed and crossed her arms against her chest.

The doors of the kitchen slid open and Adora entered the room.

“So, what are we having for dinner?” She asked, her eyes glistening with hope.

“Nothing.” Glimmer said.

“Zero.” Bow added.

“Nada.” Catra finished.

Adora’s eyes widened in confusion.

“I don’t get it. What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that we ran out of food, Adora.” Glimmer explained.

“So? We can just go out there and buy food in the market.” Catra and Glimmer groaned.

“Do we have to go through this again? Adora, we don’t have any kind of money!” Glimmer scoffed.

“So I guess we’ll die then.” Catra said and laid on top of the counter and closed her eyes.

“Uh… I have the money.” Adora said and took a brown bag out of her coat. Catra’s eyes snapped open and she jumped off the counter.

“Where did you get these?!” Catra asked

“I-”

“Adora! Did you steal it?” Glimmer tried, her voice laced with disappointment.

“Wait-”

“I thought you were better than this, Adora.” Bow said, shaking his head.

“Can you guys just let me explain this?!” Adora yelled and the other three became quiet instantly. The blonde took a deep breath, “I didn’t steal this money, for heaven’s sake. She-Ra helped some people in the woods today and they gave me this as payment. I _tried_ giving this back to them, but they refused. Can you guys lay off me now?” The other three nodded, “Anyway, I can leave and get the food for us and get back quick, how does that sound?”

“Sounds great!” Bow said enthusiastically and grabbed Glimmer’s hand and they head out of the kitchen.

Adora looked expectantly at Catra.

“Aren’t you going with them?”

“No, I’m coming with you to the market,” Catra said, her eyes narrowing.

“What- Why?”

“First: I want to spend more time with you. You’ve been secluding yourself from us because you’re trying to figure out where to go now.” Catra admitted, her cheeks reddening. Adora was so proud of her girlfriend and how far she’d come, “Second: the last time you went into the city, you almost got throw in jail if it wasn’t for me,” Melog meowled in protest, “And Melog of course.”

“Catra, I’m serious, you don’t need to do th-”

“Nonsense. It’s already decided. I’m coming with you,” She grabbed her hand and interlocked their fingers and shot a smile at the princess. Suddenly, Adora no longer felt the urge to protest.

* * *

They got to the market after half an hour and it was packed with people. Catra groaned when she realized how the universe decided to curse both of them.

“Hey,” Adora put one of her hands on the other’s shoulder, “don’t worry. We don’t need to buy everything for the trip today. We can just get the necessary for today and maybe tomorrow and come back when it’s less crowded.” Catra scowled at her but didn’t comment anything else, feeling the tiredness and hunger already slowing her down.

Her and Adora navigated through alleys of people, Adora always making sure Catra was within her vision field so they wouldn’t get lost.

After some stalls and various attempts to explain they had no idea what 90% of the foods tasted or how to pronounce it, even if it was a dish that was known worldwide. Catra was sure none of the vendors were truly buying their story that they were “passing by travelers”, but since they didn’t want to lose both of them as costumers, they just nodded to whatever they said when explaining.

Adora’s bag was being filled with fruits, vegetables, and other dishes quickly and they still had quite a bit of money.

Catra approached a vendor with some round green vegetables.

“Hey, Adora, what does this one read?” The blonde walked over and narrowed her eyes at the glyph.

“Cabbages?” She tried.

“Actually,” the vendor, an old man with dark green clothing and a goatee, started, “they’re pronounced _‘kebbages’!_ Would the two young ladies be interested in them?” Catra and Adora looked at each other and back at the green things in front of them.

“No thanks.” Adora said.

“We’re good.” Catra finished.

The expression of the man fell and he sighed, going back to tidy his _kebagges_ in place.

As they walked towards another stall, Catra felt Melog stop behind her. She stopped too and looked at him.

“What is it, boy?” She asked him in a lower voice so she wouldn’t disturb anyone else. The cat was looking intensively at one man that was very familiar to Catra. Then it clicked her.

He was the same young man who had robbed that store a week ago! Same hair, same clothes, though now he had a black hooded cape on his shoulders.

Did Melog really recognize him? Was he even present when their squad met Glimmer?

Her head was swirling with thought but she couldn’t answer any of them when she saw him creepily look around and steal a dish from a stand. Catra’s eyes widened.

_Could he step any lower? Stealing from simple vendors who spent their time doing something that would grant then money?_

Huffing she looked around and saw Adora a few feet from her, looking intensively at fruit from one stand.

It wouldn’t hurt to retrieve that from the stealer, right? She had training. She could easily overpower him.

She looked at Melog and they nodded at each other before the cat cloaked himself.

She silently approached him, knowing Melog was already doing his part.

When his hand went to steal another fruit, Catra grabbed his wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” She hissed through her gritted teeth. He clearly wasn’t expecting being caught in the act by the way Catra felt the hairs on his arm stand up.

“What-”

“Give what you stole back. And I have no problem with you.” Her claws dug slightly on his skin as she tightened his grip, “continue this, and you’ll have to face _me._ ”

“H-Hey! Let me go-” He tried to escape Catra’s grip but in the process, he tripped over Melog’s invisible body.

“Give it back. It’s not yours!” She hissed again.

His eyes darted around for an exit. His eyes landed on the stand of the _kebagge_ man that was just within his range. With one swift move, he kicked one of the stand legs, and a sea of _kebagges_ distracted everyone.

“NO! MY KEBAGGES!” The man screamed and caught everyone’s attention.

Catra had no time to deal with him though, in the sea of vegetables that fell, she had lost complete sight of the robber.

That is until Melog dropped his cloaking and silently told her to follow her.

And she did. She followed him out of the sea of people of the market, finally getting a sight of his cape when he turned the corner of a street.

 _‘I’ve got you now’_ Catra thought once she realized that the corner he ran into was an alley with a dead end.

She nodded to Melog and in an instant they were invisible. Catra approached the alley carefully, taking much care not to do any other sound that would make him suspicious and flee.

She finally looked into the alley, her smirk big.

She was prepared to jump on him and take the food back but the scene she found when she entered the alley made her take a step back.

The man was on one knee, offering the food he took to two kids who didn’t seem to be older than eight years old. Their clothing was rather simple and ripped.

“Here. I know it’s not much, but hopefully, it can help you and your family.” She smiled brightly at the two children and Catra could swear she had seen that smile somewhere before.

The two kids didn’t say otherwise, but hugged the man, clearly knocking the breath out of him. He chuckled and patted both of them on their heads before they ran off smiling brightly.

Catra took a few steps back, but while doing so, she stepped on Melog’s tail, making him hiss and drop the cloaking immediately.

The sound made the blond in front of her turn to look at her.

“Shit-” he muttered and tried looking anywhere for an exit before Catra narrowed her eyes before avoiding his gaze.

“Let’s make a deal. _I didn’t see you. You didn’t see me._ ”

“But why-”

“I don’t want my girlfriend to know I have the skill to find robbers around town.” She simply stated before looking at Melog. The magical cat nodded before cloaking them again.

* * *

Catra’s mind was racing as she found her way to the market again. With the sun already setting on the horizon, most of the crowd had already exited the market, making it way easier to find Adora’s hair poof.

Adora’s worried eyes meet Catra’s and she immediately ran into her direction, almost letting the bag of food she had brought fall on the floor as she embraced the brunette.

“Hey! What’s with this reception?” Catra teased, hugging the blond back.

“I got so worried about you. On one moment, you were there in the same place looking at those weird round vegetables and then you disappeared into a sea of people! Then they told me they saw you running after a robber and-” She mumbled into Catra’s neck.

“Hey, hey. I’m sorry I made you worry about me,” She pushed Adora away from the hug and made sure Adora was looking into her eyes, “but I’m okay. It’s true, I did chase after a ribber, but I ended up losing him.” Catra lied and she could only hope Adora wouldn’t see right through them.

Adora smiled back at her.

“Well, I’m glad nothing happened to you.” Catra had to suppress the sigh of relief. Sometimes she forgot how Adora was oblivious to most things in life. “Let’s go back to the ship. Knowing Glimmer, she’ll start to consider eating the counter if we leave her without food for long.”

Catra chuckled and enlaced her fingers with Adora’s.

As she walked past the alley, she could swear she saw a mop of blonde hair, but maybe that was just her imagination.

Yeah.

She would go with that.

* * *

_“I’m sorry Shadow Weaver kept you from dinner, Catra.” Adora said as she lazily stroked Catra’s hair as they laid on their bed in the Fright Zone._

_“Well, you shouldn’t have denied dinner too. You’re such an idiot, Adora!” She snapped, batting Adora’s hand away and buried her face in her pillow, “Now we’re both starving until tomorrow.”_

_Adora’s eyes dropped and she brought her legs to her chest, putting her chin on top of her knees._

_“Psst.” Catra’s eyes widened at the sound and she looked at Adora, who looked equally as confused._

_Their eyes landed on the door of the room and an older force captain was standing there. They approached both of the girls._

_“I heard what Shadow Weaver did.” They dropped to their knees and took out a pair of grey ration bars. “It’s not much, but if you two are going to grow into awesome Horde Soldiers, you two can’t go with nights without dinner.”_

_The two girls smiled took the ration bars into their mouths like there was no tomorrow._

_The Horde was a bad place, Catra knew that. But it was in moments like these that Catra realized that maybe things could be better._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1- Yes, that was a _Cabbage Man_ from ATLA Reference.  
> 2- Yes, that scene was a reference to Aladdin, which is another character that really resembles my take on Adam’s personality in some ways.  
> Also, remember when I said I might update this 2 times a week or so? Well, I hate to tell you all but I won’t be able to keep up this schedule for a few weeks, so I’ll try to update this story at least once a week while things in my life don’t get back on track. I’ll probably update it on Friday or Saturday, so keep your eyes open.


	9. Tell me that we'll be just fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back! It's been a crazy week, folks and because of that, this chapter is rather short for my taste. Hopefully, it won't bother you guys too much hghhhh

** Chapter Eight - Tell me that we'll be just fine **

“Look, I still think this a bad idea.” Catra protested as she entered the captain's lounge.

“What’s bad about it? She-Ra gets invited to a lot of parties back in Etheria.” Adora said as she looked at the piece of paper in her hand. She-ra had gathered these when helping some citizens move some crates inside a truck. They told me they didn’t have money at the moment, but she and whoever she wanted could go to the Eclipse Party.

After some research, they had discovered the Eclipse Party was an annual celebration for the richest people of Elarion. It had started a decade ago and it was always hosted by the same company.

“What if it’s a trap, Adora?”

“That party happens every year for a decade, Catra! If it was supposedly something dangerous, I believe they wouldn’t be free to do it.” Adora shrugged her shoulders before turning to look at Catra, “Look, you don’t have to come with me. I just accepted the invite because I thought all of us need a break. We’ve been working on a new lead for weeks, Catra. It’s stressful and we both know that.” Catra opened her mouth to say something but didn’t object, choosing to huff instead. Adora smiled and approached Catra, cupping her cheek, “I’m serious though. Just because Bow and Glimmer are coming with me, doesn’t mean that you have to.”

“No. I’m going with you. I wan to make sure you don’t put yourself into some mess.”

“Thanks for the trust, Catra.” Adora rolled her eyes.

“I know you since we were kids. I know you’re a magnet of trouble.”

“Sure, miss _I will follow a bandit around a market even though I don’t know how dangerous they are._ ” Adora chuckled.

“Are you ever letting that go?” Catra groaned.

“Nope!” Adora said and leaned to kiss her girlfriend’s nose.

“You’re insufferable.”

“And you love it.”

“It’s not something I’m quite proud of.” The brunette rolled her eyes fondly and leaned to kiss Adora. She removed Adora’s hand from her cheek and gripped it, “Let’s tell those two idiots I’m going to this stupid event.”

“I think they’ll be thrilled.”

“You ‘ _think’_?”

“Fine, I’m _sure_ they’ll be thrilled.” Adora chuckled and squeezed Catra’s hand.

* * *

_“For the Honor of Grayskull!”_ Adora’s body was surrounded by light and in another second, She-Ra was standing tall in her place.

“I still don’t get why people can’t know Adora is She-Ra. I’ll get tired really quickly if we need to find a dirty alley every time she needs to transform.” Limmer said as she looked at her surroundings.

“Look, First Ones believe that She-Ra is a deity.” Adora started, “If they discovered that a simple young woman like me was the one with all the power of She-Ra, their heads would _explode._ ”

“There are some annoying people who you could use that secret to our advantage.” Catra snickered and everyone in the group looked at her, “I’m kidding! Y’all are too sensitive, yeesh.”

Adora shook her head before turning to the entrance of the alley.

“The building where the celebration is happening is just on the next block,” she looked up to the horizon and a very tall building with shining panels all around the facade, reflecting the light of the sun that was starting to set in the horizon.

“It’s… a very pompous building, huh?” Glimmer mumbled.

“I mean, I think it’s Brightmoon levels of pompous. Shiny, tall, blinds everyone who dares to look.” Catra teased the Queen who only huffed back.

“Well, Kelterso Co. is one of, if not the richest empire of Eternia.” Bow explained, pulling out his tracker as he read the text he uncovered about the company days ago, “They’ve been around for over twenty-five years but about a decade ago, they started growing, allowing them to become rich and host the Eclipse Party to the richest people they know every single year.”

“And since She-Ra came back after so long, they invited because she’s the biggest celebrity there is?” Catra inquired.

“Pretty much that.” Bow answered shrugging his shoulders and putting away his tracker.

“Ready to face a bunch of pompous people, Adora?” Glimmer asked.

“She is used to dealing with them. She’s been living with princesses for five years.” Catra snickered and Glimmer punched her in the arm.

“Well, this is different. The princesses back home treat She-Ra as they treat Adora. These people will gush over She-Ra like I saved their families from a fire.”

“Well, it is possible that a version of She-Ra that came before you saved their ancestors from a fire.” Bow pointed.

“But _I_ didn’t. I just want to enjoy this party just like I would enjoy a party back home.” She sighed in defeat.

“Don’t worry, Adora,” Glimmer pulled her down by her arm, “you have us. We’ll make sure you have fun.”

“Yeah! We all deserve some fun!” Bow added excitedly and Adora smiled.

“Thanks guys.” She could feel the urge to hug them coming, but she knew She-Ra was too strong for that, so she made a mental note to do it later when they were back in the ship.

She truly couldn’t have asked for better friends.

* * *

The moment She-Ra stepped into the building, dozens of people started whispering and talking to their friends. Adora supposed it couldn’t be helped. She could feel déjavù as she remembered the first time She-Ra appeared in Plumeria five years ago. But at least now, she wasn’t being showered with things, just stares, and whispering. She didn’t know which one was worse.

Adora looked at Bow and Glimmer who were walking together a little behind her. They shot her bright and sincere smiles. Adora felt a squeeze of her hand and looked at Catra, who was smiling at her sweetly and mouthed to hear _you’re doing great_.

She was really glad her friends had come with her.

“She-Ra?” A voice called and Adora turned to face them. A tall woman with black hair with a friendly smile was standing just a few feet away from her.

“Yes, that’s me uh, She-Ra! Always been!” Adora let out an awkward laugh and she heard Catra face-palming. The woman didn’t seem fazed and just continued talking.

“The host of the party wishes to have a word with you.”

“Sure, I need to thank him anyway for the invite.” She let go of Catra’s hand and trailed behind the woman.

They traveled through a sea of dignitaries until Adora saw some curtains hanging from the ceiling. Adora helped herself parting the curtains and saw some other people drinking on the other side of it.

A man with a goatee, a black tuxedo, and slick back hair that was drinking stopped when he noticed her standing there.

“Ah, so this is the mighty She-Ra!” he said and put his glass down on the table and approached her, “Welcome to the 10th Eclipse Party! I’m so happy my subordinates were able to invite you!” He extended his hand to her. Adora took it and shook it firmly. “My name is Korled and I’m the CEO of Kelterso CO.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Adora responded with a bright smile.

“When I heard the legendary She-Ra had reappeared after a thousand years, I knew she should be the most celebrated guest of my party!”

“Well, I’m just doing my job, no need for parties and invites as payment.”

“Nonsense! You helped save the city from that creature weeks ago and you keep helping citizens! It’s only natural we want to pay it back in any way possible!” he laughed.

“Uh, thank you.” _I guess_ her brain wanted to say.

“I don’t want to keep you away from all the fun. Just you know, _we’re always around if you need it_.” Adora backed out from the area shooting him an awkward smile.

She soon found herself back into her group.

“What’s up with that face, Adora?” Bow asked.

“Is just… the CEO is very weird. He was saying things about paying She-Ra back and all of that.”

“So… like all of the other citizens?” Glimmer raised a brow.

“Yeah, but something was off with the way he phrased it. I don’t know how to describe it to you guys.”

“You’re probably overthinking it,” Bow said as he plopped a small piece of food in his mouth, “maybe he’s just happy about having She-Ra in his party.”

“Yeah, Adora! Don’t worry about it.” Glimmer said. The blonde let out a sigh and turned to Catra who was boringly mixing the liquid in a bowl with a spoon.

“What do you think, Catra? Am I imagining things?” she stopped and looked at her.

“I kinda have to agree with Arrow Boy and Queen Sparkles, Adora. Maybe that’s his way of enjoying a party. Or maybe he was drunk and wasn’t on the right mindset.” Adora considered before letting go of the subject.

For the next half an hour, the four of them stayed close to each other laughing at dumb jokes, making Adora forget that she was the center of attention of the party.

That is until the chatter around the room ceased and Adora saw the CEO stand on top of a table. The blonde looked at both of her friends confused and they looked just as clueless as her.

“Attention everyone! A new guest of honor has arrived at the last minute! Say hello to him!” the doors of the room opened and someone walked in.

It was a man, golden locks, just as tall as her. He had a fur cape hanging around his shoulders, a black crop top with a piece of golden armor with a big and red X in the middle on top of it. He wore black fingerless gloves that extended through his whole forearm and golden bracelets on both wrists. He wore black pants with a golden and silver belt and furry boots and he was carrying a big metal sword in his hand.

“Meet the legendary _He-Man!”_ The blond stepped in front of the crowd who cheered.

Adora’s eyes widened.

**_“WHAT?”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger? In my stories? It's more likely than you think!  
> Don't worry, I'll pick up from here on the next chapter ;D  
> Also, I want to shout my main visual inspiration for Adam and He-Ma: [This art](https://daddyschlongleg.tumblr.com/post/180113475070/i-watched-the-new-she-ra-adaptation-and-i-got) I found some months ago and found it again after some digging. Follow the artist because their art is amazing <3 (also, if the artist feels like I shouldn't use their designs here, feel free to contact me on Tumblr and I'll happily change it!)
> 
> Update: I'm upset and enabling comment moderation until this fic is over. Just so you know, it's not nice to spoil fanfic plot twists that the author may have spent a long time planning how to execute and hide it from the view. If you got it, nice, can't stop you there. What I can do is stop you from ruining the experience to some viewers who didn't see the twist like you. That is all.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback and critique is welcome! Comments too, I promise I don't bite lol  
> I'll try to update this at least 2 times a week, but quarantine is crazy and so is my life  
> [Say hi to me at tumblr!](https://artfulstar.tumblr.com/)  
> [I also have a Ko-fi!](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/zWNnqoF)


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